The Clique Winter Vacation
by splendeur
Summary: It was supposed to be the perfect vacation. What more could Claire ask for? Her best friends in the world, Cam, an amazing destination. / "Has she forgotten that we're more alpha than her?" "I guess."/ A vicious twist of interlocking plot lines make this re-write of a favorite story ten times better. Rated T for language/non-explicit themes. MxD, AxJ, CxC/N (TCWV)
1. un

-1-

The Block Estate

3:43 PM, December 5th

Tuesday

"Do you think Alicia will ever get here?" Claire Lyons rubbed her bare arms. Tiny little goose bumps were moving in & staking their territory.

"Of course." Massie checked her T-zone in her YSL compact mirror. She snapped it shut after confirming her forehead was free of stress-induced breakouts. "Alicia is always fifteen minutes late. Which means… she should be here about _now_." As Massie spoke, a black limo rolled onto the Block's driveway. One of the black windows rolled down cautiously. A stunning girl with a glossy dark high-pony leaned out.

"Sorry Massie! Kristen was MIA for forever. She was in the Montdor building… I dunno why." She smiled brightly. Claire watched the premature worry-lines disappear from Massie's face. There was just, _something_, about Alicia that made her so hard to be mad at. Her beauty? Her faux-innocence? Who knew.

"Fine." Massie quipped. "Let's head up to my room." She turned on her pointy choos & marched towards the mahogany front door. The rest of the girls filed out of the vehicle. Claire followed last. Massie halted in the dark-wood paneled entry way.

"Alright, outfit check." Massie bellowed. Her good mood was back. She loved outfit checks. The chance to judge her friends on what they were wearing? To see the fear on Claire & Kristen's face? Priceless.

Claire raised her hand cautiously.

"Speak Kuh-laire. This isn't English class." Massie smoothed a wavy piece of hair.

"Why are we rating? I thought this was just a meeting." Claire said sheepishly.

"You would think that." Massie sighed. "It is just a meeting, but we always try to look our best." She pointedly looked down at Claire's feet, which were cased with cheap canvas. "Well, most of us." Claire's face flushed.

"Alicia first." Massie ordered. "Okay, Leesh is wearing a Alexander Wang Resort 2012 drop waist red dress that looks ah-mazing against her tan. Brown tights & boxy tan ankle boots are risky, but tie the whole look together. Congrats, you are a… 9.4!" The girls golf-clapped as Alicia's smile grew.

"Dyl, your up." Massie motioned forward the fiery redhead. "Dylan is looking casual-cute, in a gold silk blouse, courtesy of equipment, and gorgeous vintage Choos. She is a… 9.3! Kristen next." Massie said, noting Claire's uncomfortable wiggle. "Kristen is debuting a soft white drape sweater over navy leggings and Tory Burch gold metallic flats. Congratulations Kristen, 9!"

Massie took her time side-stepping over to Claire.

"And Kuh-laire." Massie said slowly. "Is wearing her puffy blue ski jacket over _light wash jeans_." She said with exaggerated horror. Light wash jeans were only okay in the summer. And only in the boyfriend style. "Which are flared. Underneath, pale pink keds." Massie shook her head slowly. Claire squirmed. "What do we think girls?" She turned towards the smug PC.

"5" Alicia called, snickering.

"7.5" Kristen said, biting her lip.

"Uh, maybe a six?" Dylan looked away from Claire's pleading eyes.

"I agree with Leesh. Claire, do you know what happens to people who get fives?" Massie said, trying to stop from laughing. She had no true intention of actually punishing Claire, but it was amusing to see her squirm.

"No." Claire drew nervous toe-circles with the rubber part of her shoe.

"We usually exclude them from something. Be it a day at school, a trip to the mall… a vacation…" Massie bit her lip.

"No!" Claire gasped. "I'm sorry I'll go change, please don't say I can't-" Claire blubbered endlessly.

Just when Claire was about to pledge Todd's life, Massie giggled and spoke, "Chill Claire. I'm kidding." Claire sent her a dirty look. Massie shrugged & led the way up the dark hardwood stairs and into her room, not even bothering to have the girls rate her. She was confident in her choice of a Chinese-inspired wrap dress and edgy Stuart Weitzman riding boots.

Massie was proud of her recently renovated room. It had taken _days_ of sleeping in the attic guest bedroom, but it was worth it. Her previously okay-sized room was now combined with one of the other guest rooms next door, and now was at least twice the size. The architects had taken advantage of the high ceilings, and added a small second floor. Centered underneath the balcony was her brand-new canopy bed, covered with lavender drapes & dark purple bedding. Right beside it was her simplistic mahogany bedside-table with her white lamp & silver iHome. On the wall facing the driveway, there were three almost floor-to-ceiling windows with heavy dark purple drapes. On the wall opposite her bed, two white doors bordered her 80-inch flat screen. Door one led to her enormous maze of a walk in, laced with built in shelves & double racks for all of her clothes. Her mannequin (and Bean's!) stood guard just outside. Door number two led to her state-of-the-art white marble bathroom. The dark wood floors of the room hardly showed under the fluffy white rugs that were thrown haphazardly across the floor. It had been thoroughly designed, but all together looked carefree. And entirely chic.

All of the girls flopped down in various spots in the room; Alicia on a furry beanbag, Dylan on the floor, Kristen perched on the curving staircase, and Claire flat across her bed. Massie stood in front of her flat screen and snapped her fingers.

"Kuh-laire, off!" Massie frantically snapped until Claire rose, leaving a Claire-shaped indent in the previously perfect arrangement. Massie sighed.

"Okay, I have a very important announcement to make." Massie broke into a smile. Alicia started tapping her foot. "So, our month long vacation. You know." Massie took her time spinning around, knowing the girls were sick with anticipation. "We'll be leaving on Friday, 4 days from now…." Massie spun around again. "We'll have to get to the airport early… I was thinking maybe leave at-"

"Ehmagawd Massie spit it out." Alicia's foot tapping reached a frenzied tempo.

"Fine. Australia. Happy?" Massie tried to conceal her smile, but lost it when Alicia started dancing around her beanbag chair.

"Given! Given! Given!" Alicia sang. "I knew it!"

"Are you serious?" Claire yelled, temporarily forgetting her pouty face.

"I've always wanted to go to Australia." Kristen mused."

"Me too!" Dylan called. "Wait, where's Australia again? I hope they have good food!"

"Calm." Massie giggle-snorted. "Now, I need help getting our packing lists off the printer. Leesh? Claire?"

"Why do you need-" Massie silenced Claire with a wide-eyed look. The two girls followed her down to the home office on the first floor. Five pre-prepped packets were sitting by the printer. Massie snatched them and motioned the girls to step into the half-bath next to it.

"What's going on?" Claire wailed. "It's dark!"

"E-nuff! I have some secret information." The girls stopped and stared at her. They couldn't resist good intel.

"I convinced Derrington's dad to take them to Australia with us." Massie said softly. "Them, being Cam." Claire squeaked. "Derrington, obvs, and Josh." Alicia's dark irises widened.

"Josh! And Cam! Josh! And Cam!" They started up a chant. Massie stifled them with an amber-colored glare.

"I'm not sure how Dylan & Kris will feel about not having a guy on the trip. So keep this on the DL, okay?" Massie said slowly. The girls nodded, and then ran out up the stairs. They could barely contain their excitement.

**A/N: It's up! Yay! Let's go with 10 reviews to get this started ****J****. **

**Splendeur**


	2. deux

-2-

The Block Estate

3:57 PM, December 5th

Monday

"Okay! Read your packets & then we will discuss." Massie clapped strait-lacedly. Claire immediately opened her packet.

**~The PC's Official Australia Packing List~**

**Clothes-**

**Summery! Remember, the seasons are switched!**

**No ugly colors, as usual. Stay away from pink, dark purple, and cool-toned greens. **

**Shorts for the most part, but flowy pants are great too.**

**~~~abv. version**

The list went on for three more pages. Claire was grateful her dad had just gotten severable promotions + her Dial L acting money. She would easily be able to afford a new designer wardrobe, and that was new to her. It probably wouldn't end up being an every-other week thing, like Massie & Alicia were used too, but still.

Massie ech-hemmed from her beanbag. Her long legs were crossed primly at the ankle. "Any questions?"

Dylan looked up. "Is turquoise okay? What about gray?"

"Turquoise is a warm-toned blue, Dyl. Gray's fine." Massie sighed. "No more questions? All right, so tomorrow at eight we'll all meet at the mall. Isaac's getting a foot surgery, so he won't be picking up. Ah-greed?"

"Done." Alicia blotted her lip-gloss with the packing list, leaving a strawberry colored smear on the top left corner.

"Done!" Kristen looked excited. Claire wondered why. Wasn't she poor? Shopping trips always used to be the bane of Claire & Kristen's existence. Sure, they liked fashion, but without the $$$$ to back it up…

"Done." Dylan smiled, pushing a red curl behind her ear.

"And Done." Claire bit her lip. This was going to be the best vacation ever. Cam + her best friends = vacation of a lifetime. Right?

The Block Estate, The Guesthouse

4:15 PM, December 5th

Monday

"Please be on, please be on!" Claire muttered to herself as she strung her puffy blue jacket over the corner of the desk chair. Her pale hands shot forward and quickly shook the mouse button awake. She quickly found Instant Messenger, typed in "orlando" as her password & scanned the "on" list. Massikur, SexySportsBabe, Toddisgodd, rainbowgaloshes (layne); no good. Claire crossed her fingers and scrolled down. "Yes!" Claire whispered. There was a tiny little green dot by Fisher2.

**Clairebear: **Hey!

**Fisher2: **Hey

**Clairebear: **Just found out about Australia

**Clairebear: **It's going to be so fun!**  
Fisher2:** yeah

**Clairebear: **Can't wait to be with u

**… Fisher2 is now offline …**

"What the hell?" Claire murmured to herself.

**You know what to do :)**

**Mwah!**

**splendeur**


	3. trois

-3-

The Westchester Mall

3:57 PM, December 6th

Tuesday

Christian Louboutin was one of Claire's favorite stores. Sure, everything was outrageously expensive, but their designs were classics and lasted a few seasons. Unlike trendier shoes, Manolos, for instance, the designs were more traditional.

Claire thanked gawd again for her dad's promotion and got to work. A pair of crimson sling backs caught her eye first. They were red (check!), summery (check!) and super cute (triple check!). Next was a pair of silver-toned gray & black wrap sandals. Those plus three pairs of flats miraculously found their way onto the modern upside-down "U" shaped counter in the center of the store.

"That'll be three thous-" Claire cut off the petite salesgirl by hurriedly handing over her brand new platinum Visa. Claire still wasn't used to being able to "drop a few grand" on five pairs of shoes. Once the pretty white & gold bag with the pretty twine handles was firmly in her palms, she took off, following Massie's shiny high-pony in to the Hermes.

"Kriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiis!" Dylan yelled across the store. "What color?" Several high-society ladies gave her dirty looks. Dylan blushed. She as waving two different Birkin bags in the air, one a pale melon, the other a buttery neutral tan.

"Tan! If your going to spend _eight thousand dollars_ on a bag, make it a color you'll use!" Kristen called back. She was probably right. But the pale pink was so pretty! Sighing, Dylan put down the pink crocodile skin-bag and cradled the calfskin bag carefully. At least the tan didn't look like something Barbie would wear. To console herself, she picked up a $395 apple carrier off the artsy tree near the register. After signing the yellow VISA receipt with a perfect imitation of Merri Lee's swirly scrawl, Dylan waited while Massie purchased a watercolor beach bag & Alicia bought a braided silk bangle. As the girls strolled out of the small boutique, Dylan considered running back in and hurriedly purchasing the Barbie bag. But then she thought, _I could buy, like, forty equipment blouses with eight thousand bucks_. And so she kept walking.

Massie's favorite store was Bloomingdales. By far. It might have been because of the winter spread on royal purple. Possibly. Technically, Massie wasn't allowed to wear any purple. But since when did she follow the rules, especially her own? Massie picked out a winter white blouse with royal purple halter straps. Moving on, Massie spotted the surprisingly full swimsuit section overflowing with cute bikinis. A pale yellow bikini, a soft red bandeau, a white cutout one piece and several others were carefully wrapped in silvery paper as Massie looked on, eager to go up to the next level.

The first thing that caught Massie's eye as she ascended the elevator was a collection of Lanvin silk utility shorts. Massie tried on, and loved, the dark red & the black. Soon, a couple of extra True Religion jean shorts were added to the growing shopping bag, as was an ah-dorable white silk tee. Just a few silk trapeze dresses later, the bag was full, and had to be switched out. And with a smile on her face, she went at it again. Shopping was _so _fun.

Kristen fingered the $745 dollar price tag carefully. Despite the shiny new Visa card sitting proudly in her Coach wallet, the money seemed outrageous. Maybe Kristen just needed to snap out of it. Her poor days were over. Rich was in. Her mom had divorced Kristen's dad, after the real reason for his frequent "business" trips became apparent. Dads were out, step-dads were in. Marsha Gregory had waited only a mere two days before meeting Richard Block & marrying him only 2 weeks later on a secluded island in the middle of the Caribbean.

Richard Block was William Block's (Massie's father) younger brother. Him & Marsha were the exact same age, 39. Richard ran a nation-wide banking service, and certainly had a solid spot in the 1%. Thankfully, for Kristen, he had no prior children, only one ex-wife.

The thing was, Kristen hadn't told anyone. Not that was embarrassed. But, how the hell was she supposed to word it? "Hey, I'm rich now!" or "Massie! I'm your cousin!" Kristen had hoped that going shopping would bring up an opportunity. She had been shopping like a fiend, buying handbag after handbag, even buying an outrageously expensive Cartier love pendant. But no one had even batted an eye. Everyone was too caught up in their own shopping.

Kristen sighed and snatched up the $745 Prada satchel and marched up to the white checkout counter. Two minutes later, the cream & black leather bag was nestled in festive red tissue paper, and Kristen was on her way to the Apple store. Might as well get a new laptop. And maybe an iPhone 5. And maybe a couple iPads.

"Mwah! Mwah!" The perky Andrea air-kissed Alicia the minute she walked through the door. "You haven't been here so long!" Alicia smiled, the slightly broken English bringing back memories of all-day shopping trips & piles of delicious Blue label riding pants.

"I know!" Alicia glanced around the store. The racks were full, which was a good sign. They had probably just gotten a shipment in.

"We get shipment in yesterday!" Andrea smiled, practically reading her mind.

"Yay!" Alicia golf-clapped out her excitement.

"We looking for anything special? What can I pull?"

"Vacation wear!" Alicia said happily. "Everything summery, and…" She consulted her list. "And no purples."

"Yes. We get started." The perky Asian American beckoned Alicia into the world of soft silks & knit cottony-blends.

It was 6:22 by the time Massie had collected all of the girls. Per the usual, Alicia was holed up in Ralph Lauren, smiling as a huge pile of clothes was scanned. Together, they managed to find Claire in Nordstrom's buying a stack of socks, Kristen in Joie, and Dylan just outside of the Hermes, staring longingly in the window. As the girls click-clacked out of the mall, they gave no identifiers of exhaustion, only pure joy. T-minus 3 days until the best vacation ever!

**A/N: Hey guys! This is super long, so sorry if you had a hard time reading it. Just a bit fluffy, but it reveals a lot of character traits. **

**Mwah!**

**splendeur**


	4. quatre

-4-

The Block Estate

8:00 AM, December 8th

Thursday

Massie woke to the soft sound of Inez, ringing a bell.

"Mah-ssie. It's time to get ready." Her voice was dull, like she was reading a script. Which, technically, she was. Massie had given her strict orders to wake her up at eight sharp. The PC's appointments at Bliss were at nine, and latecomers's appointments were erased at exactly 9:05. The 10-person in-store wait list loved the opportunity to snap up any abandoned treatments. The spa was in great demand.

Massie sighed, slid out of her soft sleigh bed and padded past Inez, into her grey marble bathroom. Though she was getting numerous hair treatments at the spa, she wanted her hair to be shiny & clean. Her hair got a fleeting dose of Fekkai Orange Blossom shampoo and conditioner, as she stood under the warm rainwater-style shower. Excitedly moving the pink hairdryer up and down, she blew her hair completely dry in under twenty minutes, a new record, and dressed in two. Her outfit had already been decided the night before, via a three-hour outfit summit with the PC minus Claire. She donned dark purple and white Prada ACTIVE cropped yoga pants and a long-sleeved V-neck black cotton shirt.

Her cell phone beeped with an alarm 8:30. Massie hopped downstairs to grab a LUNA bar & latte, fresh from Inez's daily Starbucks run. Massie slipped on a pair of Lanvin black snakeskin flats and walked outside to meet Claire & Isaac. Claire was already in the Range Rover, obviously not wanting to fall victim to the biting wind. She looked somewhat decent; wearing a somewhat piled old Missoni orange & pink t-shirt, dark-wash cutoffs & coach low-top sneakers. Clashy, but exceptional compared to what Claire had been wearing recently. Did all actresses fall into a slump after scoring their first role? Claire certainly had.

Thankfully, most of her clothes had been designer, from the numerous comp boxes she had received on the set of _Dial L for Loser_. But she would make weird choices (like flesh-colored Mulberry leggings) and wore them to rags. It was so not flattering. Massie almost always felt embarrassed walking next to her. She certainly did this morning.

"Kuh-laire. You brought sandals, right?" Massie examined Claire's feet. The Coach sneakers might have been cool for sixth grade gym class. If they didn't have a gigantic hole in the suede upper.

"No. Was I supposed to?' Claire mumbled sheepishly.

"Yeah." Massie knit her eyebrows together. "We don't want our toes to smudge."

"Shoot." Claire murmured, staring at her feet.

"You are so lucky you're my friend." Massie shook her head, reaching into her white leather hobo. A pair of hunter green Ralph Lauren sandals flew into Claire's lap.

Claire brightened. "Thanks!"

"It's what I'm here for." Massie smiled, picking an imaginary piece of lint off her black top.

While they waited the usual five minutes for Alicia to appear, Massie flipped through Australia tourist books. Pages and pages of beautiful landscapes and high-end shops stared back at her. Australia was so obviously alpha. Maybe she would live there eventually.

"Heeeeeeeeeeey." Alicia called, gracefully planting herself in a black leather seat opposite Massie. She was wearing the same outfit as Massie, only her yoga pants were soft yellow & blue, and her shirt was white.

"Hey!" Claire said happily, scooting over so Alicia could reclaim her usual spot. Alicia didn't respond.

"Hey!" Massie parroted.

"I'm so so so excited!" Alicia gushed, as Claire shrank back feeling as if Alicia smacked her across the face. What was Alicia ticked off about now?

"Are those shirts Juicy?" Claire asked, nervously trying to break the ice.

"Calvin." Massie answered quickly, eying Alicia nervously. Alicia sighed.

Soon, Kristen & Dylan had been collected. They too were wearing the yoga-pants and long-sleeved shirt combo, in shades of pinks, oranges and greens. Claire felt like a sloppy kindergartener in her slightly boxy M by Missoni kids t-shirt and dark blue Old Navy clam diggers, which had miraculously escaped comment by Massie. What would the glamorous spa people think? Obviously, that she was so not a part of the rest of the girls, a younger cousin, perhaps, that Massie had been forced to take.

A mere five minutes later, the girls reached Bliss, a vast luxury Spa on the outskirts of Scarsdale. The facility was huge, spanning over 50,000 square feet of floor-space. Anyone who was anyone had gone at least once. Claire felt immense pride to have scored an invite, regardless of her outfit. Hopefully, they wouldn't banish her for wearing faux-Coach sneakers on admission. Hey, she _could_ have bought the real thing, but old habits die hard.

The spa only took about 100 customers a day. On a good day, more than half of the number were celebrities. Massie, of course, wasn't a celebrity (yet), so she was forced to book two months ahead. But it was worth it. The girls smiled for the paparazzi in front of the store, and then walked in the glass doors in an imposing straight line. Claire ambled behind them, ducking her face.

"Massie Block, Kristen Gregory, Dylan Marvil, Alicia Rivera & Kuh-laire Lyons." Massie spoke smoothly, placing one groomed-but-not-manicured hand on the marble check-in stand.

"Of course. I'll take Miss Block, Gregory & Marvil straightaway. Ale will be here in one minute to collect Miss Lyons and Miss Rivera." The brunette hostess smiled, leading them away.

"Wait! Don't leave me!" Alicia called, obviously oblivious to how ridiculous she sounded. Claire shifted in her faux-ches.

"You have Claire." Massie mouthed.

"No!" Alicia sniffed. She immediately turned her back to Claire.

"Okay." Claire muttered to herself. She mentally reviewed the last few days, wondering if she had done something to affect Alicia. Yesterday? A week ago? A mean joke a year ago that she had just understood?

"Miss Lyons and Miss Riviera?" A small Indian woman nasally screeched next to Claire.

"Yes!" Alicia speed-walked in front of the lady, headed for the door that Massie had headed through.

"Miss Riviera. We have you in the Mirror room. Not the Bamboo hall." The Indian woman screeched.

"Uh, no." Alicia spun around. "We're in the Bamboo room. Come." The last part was directed to Claire. Claire glanced at the fuming woman and made a beeline through the door. Alicia was already several dozen feet away, anxiously speed walking towards a mahogany door with bamboo handles. She flung the door open, and Claire ran to catch it before it cracked against the dark wood frame.

Inside, Alicia was sighing in relief. "Thank Gawd I convinced them to let me in here! I don't know if I could have lasted by myself."

Claire bit her tongue, and chose to appreciate the beauty of the changing room. The walls were dark forest green, contrasting perfectly with the sunken wood lockers. Huge pots of living bamboo were in the corners, and dark brown silk ottomans filled the center. The room was about 700 square feet, with just eight giant lockers. Most likely, the girls would have it to themselves. Slightly uncomfortable, Claire began to strip away at her clothes, slipping on the pale celery Eres bikini provided in her locker. A fluffy light gray ankle-length robe covered her body with a silken touch. Turning around, Claire found the locker room empty. She quickly stuffed her clothes in the locker and ran out the door. The girls were waiting just outside the door, with their brunette escort.

"Alright. You girls have the mud soak first." Jasmine talked and walked, her waist-length chocolate-colored curls flying behind her. "For thirty minutes. I'll collect you after. Enjoy." Jasmine stopped in front of a large tan door.

Inside, the room was painted in shades of tan and brown, with a large bubbling marble square of mud right in the center. The Clique had the room to themselves. Massie quickly took her dark red robe off and slithered into the steaming mud, inch by inch. It was painful, and Massie felt her legs screaming in protest. But then, as her body adjusted, the pain evaporated, leaving a warm tingling sensation.

"Alicia? Gossip?" Massie clipped her long dark brown hair onto her head with a silver Tiffany clip.

"One sec." Alicia slid into the hot tub. "Okay. So Liz Goldman is dating Trent Nicklos, and Becca Vander is dating Timmy Nicklos, his _younger _brother."

"Can they ever do anything apart?" Massie sighed. The other girls agreed with an annoyed breath. Liz Goldman & Becca Vander had been best friends since kindergarten, and would likely be best best best friends until the day they died.

"Sophi Von De Lear and Allison Delante got in a huge fight over Kemp, who doesn't like either of them."

"Who does he like?" Kristen blurted eagerly.

"I don't know yet." Alicia smirked knowingly. "Oh, and…."

"Yeah?" Massie prompted. She opened one amber eye and looked at Alicia. Alicia was looking at Claire, a malicious look in her eyes.

"Josh told me Cam's not into Claire anymore. He's going to break up with her," Alicia said slowly, relishing in the pain on Claire's face.

Very rarely in her life had Massie been speechless.

"L…. A…. Claire!" Massie spit out, watching Claire scramble out of the pool and run out into the hallway.

"Alicia!" Dylan gasped, staring openmouthed at the door.

"What? I thought she deserved to know." Alicia turned to Massie. "So, points?"

"So not the point! Claire's probably running out the door, and… getting mud on the white carpets! That is so OL!"

"Getting mud on the carpets?" Dylan looked up.

"No! What's off limits is gossiping about your _best friends_ when they're right in front of you!" Massie pointedly stared at Alicia as she hosed her bikini off and slid on her robe.

"What? She deserved it!"


	5. cinq

-5-

Bliss Spa

December 8th, around 9:30 AM

Thursday

It was fairly easy for Claire to find the outside doors. But when she stepped out into the below-freezing air, she made a rapt decision to go back inside. It was December, she was in her bikini & freezing, despite the thin layer of mud dripping onto her toes. She traced over her steps through the marble entry-way, making the haughty women waiting for check-in gasp yet again, and took off down a unmarked hallway. She briefly thought about joining the girls again, but thought of Alicia's smirk and horrible news and crossed it out. She could find a place, right? There had to be one place that wasn't crawling with the A-list. Or shrieking spa workers.

Once Claire found an abandoned locker room, she broke down into tears. Was Alicia right? Did Cam really want to break up with her? Is that why he'd been signing out randomly and not responding? With shaking fingers, she pressed speed dial 1 on her phone. It rang and rang and rang. When the voice-mail system picked up, Claire hung up. And tried again. And again and again. After more than a dozen tries, her phone slipped out of her mud-streaked hands and hit the floor. Claire buried her head in her hands and sobbed. She hit speed dial 3 as an afterthought.

"Hello?"

"Layne." Claire sniffled.

"Claire?" Layne said cautiously through the line. In the background, Claire heard Layne eating. Most likely, it was Lucky Charms cereal covered in chocolate, which was her new obsession. Claire quickly explained the situation, peppering her words with sobs and sniffles just in case Layne didn't understand how _sad_ she was.

"So?" Claire said dramatically, waiting for a response.

"Okay." Layne's voice was faint, like she had moved the phone away from her ear.

"This is not oh kay! My life is ruined. Done." Claire sniffled, baffled in why Layne was silent. It was the least she could do to say something, although Claire would have preferred a nice "Sorry" gift-basket with gourmet gummy-bears.

"You heard this from Alicia?"

"Duh." Claire oozed contempt. Had Layne actually dared to tune her out?

"Why do you think she's the least bit trustworthy?"

"Well, Josh told her. And he's not answering my calls."

"Claire. Cam has an all-day indoor soccer tournament today."

"How do you know?" Claire looked at her cuticles. They were bright red. She promptly sat on her hand.

"You… told… me…?" Layne said loudly. "Yesterday?"

"Oh right. But you could have been nicer and besides I think-*click* " Claire looked at the phone in shock. Layne had hung up on her!

"Claire?" Massie spoke softly, peering into the locker room. Once she saw that Claire was somewhat okay, her voice rose. "You better get out now. Or gawd forbid, I'm going to let the bitchy Indian throw you out." Claire hauled herself to her feet.

"How'd you find me." Claire said flatly. Massie gestured down the hallway. Brown size-seven footsteps and mud splatters covered the floor, marking a perfect trail of her dash.

"Gross, right? Thank gawd I convinced the spa people that you were going through a super hard time, and it was nawt okay for them to throw you out." Massie stared at her expectantly.

"Thanks?"

"Let's go! Five minutes to get to our Sea Cactus and Cacao facials." Massie started off down the marble walkway, her clean toes effortlessly evading the marks Claire left behind. After all, facials were _always_ more important than your friend's possible mental breakdown; Claire thought bitterly. She was a movie star. People should be begging to be her therapist. Because apparently, neither of her best friends were up for the job.

**_And now… a brief journey into the thoughts of Alicia Rivera_**

_Kuh-laire is such a baby. If Josh wasn't into me, I wouldn't be crying about it. I would let him go gracefully in the true alpha spirit. And sure, I might have stretched the truth a little bit. Josh said nothing about Cam not liking Claire anymore. Just about the possible break-up. I can't believe Massie blames me. I was using my journalistic, fine, gossiping, powers to let Claire know early. It wasn't my fault! Wait, is Cacao chocolate? But doesn't chocolate have sugar in it? And what the heck is a sea cactus? _


	6. six

-6-

The Marvil House

December 9th, 2:00 AM

Friday

**beep.**

**Beep!**

**BEEP.**

**BEEP! BEEP!**

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! **

"EMAGAWD!" Dylan Marvil sat up in her bed & threw her alarm clock across the room. It promptly split into approximately seven thousand pieces. Dylan ripped off her blue silk eye mask in annoyance. Forcefully, she yanked her old MacBook Air onto the bed and checked the time. Two. Massie had sent the girls an email last night to be up by two, at the latest, she & Claire were supposedly never going to sleep. Dylan couldn't live without sleep.

Dylan got up and marched out of her messy pink boudoir into the en suite bathroom, passing the stack of seven electric blue Tumi suitcases in the hall. Massie had personally bought everyone luggage, choosing a different neon (but tasteful) color for each girl. Claire had gotten bright rose, Kristen a bright jade and Alicia an electric crimson. Massie of course, had a warm violet.

Sliding off her gray silk jammies, Dylan opened the door to her glass shower. She took more time than she wanted on her unruly hair, as it had decided to grow a rat's nest the size of a grapefruit. To add to the perfect morning, her Anastasia base had liquefied, leaving a goopy foundation-colored mess in her makeup drawer. Dylan frowned and grabbed her backup Revlon foundation. Good god. Once she had managed to somewhat even her complexion with the crappiest color ever, she filled in YSL #32 blush on the apples of her cheekbones and shellacked dark brown mascara onto her eyelashes. To finish her spur-of-the-moment decision to look messy-but-fabulous she slid on blush Chanel logo leggings with her new white patent leather flats and a soft oversized gray Wildfox "represent" hoodie. VIA a quick iPhone-5 check, the time had flown by. Dylan grabbed her light gray Lanvin oversized hobo tote and high-tailed it out her white painted-wood front door, not bothering to catch it before it slammed. Her mom would be up anyway. Outside, the range rover waited, followed by two black vans. Dylan watched suspiciously as two cute-but-burly college-aged boys took her bags and loaded them into the last van.

"We rented them." Massie said explanatorily, once Dylan was in her usual seat. "We have like 40 bags all together. No way were they fitting in here.

"Ah." Dylan said, more to fill the silence than anything else. The tension in the car was unbelievably thick. Claire & Alicia were on opposite sides of the car, while Massie sat in the middle, trying to dispel the drama.

"And we're off!" Isaac said joyfully, his dark Italian eyes scanning the girls. Once a short moment had passed, he hastily took the wheel and the Range Rover jumped forward with a screech. Isaac got them to JFK in record time; unloading their bags even faster. Once their bags were on their way to the plane VIA first-class luggage, the girls breezed through security. Their first stop was obviously Starbucks. Claire broke the comfortable silence they were all enjoying.

"Massie?" She practically screamed. "Where are we meeting Derrick, Cam & Josh." Massie freezed, cautiously looking at Dylan and Kristen. Their faces crumbled.

"Claire!" Alicia took one step forward, jostling Claire's Chantico Drinking Chocolate. Tiny little droplets flew onto her furry white North Face coat. "Emagawd, _so _sorry." Alicia hissed.

"Wait, your boyfriends are coming?" Dylan stared at her feet.

"Yeah." Massie said, shooting a nasty glare in Claire's direction, who was trying to clean the brown speckles off of her so-not-sexy coat.

"Fine." Kristen scratched her perky nose. "Me & Dylan can just get guys in Australia then."

"Yay! Fine by me." Massie said happily, inviting Alicia, Dylan & Kristen into a group hug. She ignored Claire's frantic attempts to join the circle. Claire had lost the privilege of BFF love.

"Let's go to our gate." Massie said softly, realizing Claire was tearing up. She reassured her with a quick bicep-squeeze, and then walked forward to take the lead. Along the way, the Clique girls stopped in practically all of the stores to shop, so by the time they managed to get to the gate they were the some of last ones boarding.

Dylan dashed ahead of the girls, eager to check out the cool spiral staircase up to the elevated seating area (it's a 747). Dylan happily started a checklist in her mind. Boarding passes scanned? Check. Seats found in elevated seating area? Check. Massie announcing something? Check. Wait.

"Officially awn vacation!" Massie finished proudly.


	7. sept

**xx Hey guys! Tell me what you think... This is obviously AU for Nikki & Cam. Keep reading! xx**

**Also, visit my profile to vote for your (up to 2) favorite stories of mine! :)**

**Okay, enjoy :) **

**PS: I have the next chapter written for this, so anytime that review count goes over 70... You get a new chapter! **

* * *

7.

The 747-800 Flight #3334 (DEST: AUST, ORIG: NYC)

December 8th, 5:45 AM

The plane was unbelievable. By far, the nicest one Claire had ever been on. She gaped at the smooth dark brown leather seats, the flat screen TV's mounted on the back of the seats, and the white fluffy carpet that reminded her of Massie's. Towards the front of the plane were four bedrooms, with California-king sized beds in case anyone wanted to "take a nap". The two flight attendants were dressed in black silk Valentino, and offered tiny flutes of orange juice and tiny bowls of candy. Main food, such as their breakfast, would come later; once they were in the air.

The whole section was fairly small, with only nine seats total, spread several feet away from each other, but with the option to cluster them together via remote controls. Claire quickly discovered the chair movement panel, and amused herself with making the chair go flat and spin around until Massie told her that the faint mechanical sound was giving her a migraine. So Claire simply turned her chair towards the staircase and waited for the boys.

"Flight Attendants? Please prepare for takeoff in approximately fifteen minutes." A voice filtered down from the ceiling. Claire heard the squeak of someone's chair turning around, and was face-to-face with Massie's slightly worried face. The worry was erased quickly, and she smiled brightly over Claire's head. Claire switched around. There stood Cam, leather jacket and all, sort-of-smiling by the staircase. Claire jumped up and ran to him.

"H-hey Claire." Cam stammered, slightly surprised by her onslaught of attention.

"Hi! You're here! Emagawd! I mean, Mass…. ie… said you would be here but I didn't know you could have been transferred to another flight and you know…" Cam put up a hand for her to stop. Claire shut her mouth, feeling slightly miffed. Cam lead the way to the seats, where he picked the seat next to Claire, leaving Derrick & Josh to two of the back seats. The last passenger in the upper-cabin was an older businessman who looked like he'd rather shoot himself than stay with eight middle school kids for twenty hours; who quickly transferred to the more suitable all-black business class where Derrington's dad was seated.

"Attention! We are beginning our taxi. Buckle yourself in & remain in your seat for the duration of takeoff."

"Shit, I gotta piss!" Derrick shouted from the back. Everyone giggled, and then went back to what they were doing. Claire, mainly ogling Cam. He looked great, even more than great. He had gotten a haircut, and his blue & green eyes were finally visible. His leather jacket was layered over a waffled black Ralph Lauren long-sleeved polo that Alicia would have loved. His dark jeans were slightly baggy, and totally cute. Claire peeked over the back of her seat, and glanced at what the other guys were wearing. To her surprise, they were all staring at Cam, who was now staring at her.

"Cam? Hello?"

"Claire I have to tell you something. No wait ask, no tell you something." Cam adverted his eyes."

Claire's heart sped up. "Yeah?"

"I want to bre- I mean…. I mean…. You're the best boyfriend ever. I mean girlfriend." Cam smiled uncomfortably.

"Emagawsh! You mean it? You really do?" Claire snatched Cam's hand and held it in her armpit. "I love you too!" Claire was happier than she had been in a long time, on an ah-mazing plane, with her ah-mazing friends and ah-mazing boyfriend. It would be a day she would remember for a while, as the start of the most ah-mazing vacation ever.

* * *

The 787-400

December 8th, 6:04 AM

_And now…. A brief journey into the thoughts of Josh Hotz…_

_Cam is such a grade-a idiot! He set out to break up with Claire, but got himself screwed. That's like the first rule of relationships; don't say she's the best girlfriend ever. We all know he's going to hook up with Nikki. We just do. Maybe he's already done it at camp. Who knows? Nikki is one Australian bitch though. That blonde hair! So hot. Massie, Alicia & Kristen are probably way hotter though. I don't know. _

_ I wonder if Claire's going to take it hard when she finds out. Or maybe she won't find out. If Cam is sneaky. I could let it slip to Alicia, but ruin Cam's fun? Maybe. It would be an awesome sucker punch. I don't even know why Claire and Cam are still together. Everyone's seen the shrine of sexy Nikki photos in his desk, and his collection of every IM printout. That would suck if Claire found those. His problem, not mine._

* * *

**You know what to do! :)**


	8. huit

**This chapter is so full of drama! No fluff here! **

**Thanks for all the reviews! :) Keep on reviewing!**

**Poll on my profile for your two favorite stories of mine! **

**Also, what story do you want updated after this? First person to review gets their pick!**

**xx,**

**splendeur**

* * *

8.

The 747-800

December 8th, 7:25 AM

Alicia trained her eyes on Claire. She was draped over Cam, having scooted her chair as close as possible to form a daybed. Secretly, Alicia wanted to turn her chair around and do the same thing with Josh, but he was annoyingly deep in conversation with Derrick, their eyes darting towards the happy couple. They were ahv-iously gossiping, and Alicia was so bored, she decided to manipulate her chair and join them.

"What's up?"

"Uh." Josh glanced at Derrick. "Nothing."

"Sure." Alicia turned her eyes back and forth. "Come on, I can keep a secret."

"Fine." Derrick relented. "But you absolutely cannot tell Claire!"

"Given." Alicia flipped her hair, and assumed the gossip position. Shoulders up, slight lean, head tilted.

"I can't betray Cam." Josh insisted.

"Sure you can." Alicia leaned forward, until she saw his eyes go to her shirt. His normally tan skin turned red.

"Oh-okay. Cam loves this girl from camp." Josh hissed.

"What? Who?" Alicia hissed back.

"Shush!" Derrick insisted from her left. "Her name is Nikki. She flies to the states from Australia every year so she can go to camp with Cam. I don't think Claire knows."

"Cam wants to hook up with her on this trip." Josh broke into Derrick's speech.

"Hook up?" Alicia leaned closer. "Like full-deal or just making out.

"The first." Derrick mumbled, sort of embarrassed. "He was trying to break up with Claire an hour ago, but he's a chicken."

"Thanks guys." Alicia retracted. She needed to tell Massie now.

"Remember! Claire can't know." Josh whisper-called at her back. She nodded, letting him know she heard.

**Alicia:** Bathroom now.

Alicia hurried towards one of the two bathrooms, hearing the ding as the message found it's way to Massie's phone.

"What?" Massie hissed, barely ten seconds later. She had come immediately, knowing that Alicia never commanded her unless it was necessary.

Alicia went on to explain, Massie's amber eyes getting wider by the second.

"Let's text the girls. We need help."

Kristen tapped her fingers on the seats leather arm. She was super interested in the drama unfolding around her, but per the usual, no one was paying a lick of attention to her. Ding! Kristen pulled out her iPhone, seeing an iMessage from Massie on the screen.

**Massie:** Have to tell you guys something

**Dylan:** What?

**Kristen:** Yes?

**Alicia:** U cant tell Claire!

**Dylan:** Deal, spill

**Massie:** Kris?

**Kristen:** Agree with Dyl

**Massie:** Okay remember the spa when leesh told the gossip and Claire ran out?

**Dylan:** yeah, duh

**Kristen:** What abt it?

**Alicia:** Its true

**Dylan:** no way!

**Kristen:** -shocked face-

**Alicia:** and theres more

**Alicia:** u kno how cam goes to camp every summer

**Dylan:** yeah

**Alicia:** this girl nikki goes there, and he wants to meet her on this trip

**Kristen:** we're in Australia

**Massie:** no duh

**Dylan:** lol

**Alicia:** guess who lives in Australia

**Dylan:** oh

**Kristen:** my

**Dylan:** god! OMG! We have to tell her!

**Alicia:** never! Josh swore me 2 secrecy

**Kristen:** we cant! We need 2 keep c away from the camp tramp

**Dylan:** which c?

**Kristen:** cam

**Massie:** someone needs to find a facebook profile

**Kristen:** on it

**Massie:** leesh, get more info out of j and d

**Alicia:** done

**Dylan**: me?

**Massie:** watch cam

* * *

Kristen exited the conversation & flipped open her brand-new MacBook Air. She quickly connected to the on-flight Wi-Fi, and typed _Nikki_ into Google. 234,000,000 hits. _Nikki Australia_ got 23,400,000. _Nikki and Cam_ got even more; 61,000,000. _Nikki and Cam in Australia_ was much better. She clicked on the first link, which led to a Nikki Dalton's Facebook page. A big profile picture filled the screen at first. Kristen noted that the girl was pretty, with a heart-shaped face and blond hair like her own; but she got severe points off for the obvious face double D's straining against her sweater. Part of her profile was under the picture.

**Name:** Nikki James Dalton

**Gender: **Female

**Age:** 14 1/2

**Location:** Australia

**Hair Color:** Blonde

**Eye Color:** Hazel

**Height:** 5' 7"

**Weight:** Not telling

**Ethnicity:** Half Aussie, Half American

**Favorite Color:** Green & Blue (you know why! )

**Favorite Place in the world:** Camp Winlife in New York 3

**Relationship Status:** Taken (it's complicated)

Kristen scrolled down, and via a few clicks, discovered a message series between her and Cam.

**Nikki Dalton - Cam Fisher:**

**12/1/12 8:00 AM: **Heyyy! You're coming on the 8th right? Cannot wait to see you!

**12/1/12 8:34 AM: **_Me too… I wish you lived here. I'm so glad Massie convinced Derrick's dad to take us to Australia._

**12/1/12 8:40 AM: **Massie sounds really cool! I can't wait to meet her! I wish I lived in the US and could be part of the PC…. maybe replace Claire…?

**12/1/12 2:04 PM: **_Uh, yeah about that… Claire is coming too and we're not broken up… yet_

**12/1/12 2:05 PM:** No way! You said she wasn't coming & you would be broken up with her!

**12/1/12 2:08 PM:** _I've just been waiting for the right time. I don't want her to ruin my vacay_

**12/1/12 2:12 PM: ** okay, aside from Claire (convo not over), when can we meet first?

**12/1/12 3:00 PM:** _Well we take off at 6 am, and land one PM your time the next day; and I think we can do whatever for the day_

**12/1/12 3:17 PM: **How long are you here?

**12/1/12 4:03 PM: **_We have double-vacation this year, so we're here December 9th to January 10th.I checked the schedule and we can meet at 4 till 8 on the same day that I get there?_

**12/1/12 5:36 PM: **Yay! In the afternoon right?

**12/1/12 5:37 PM: **_Yes_

**12/1/12 5:45 PM:** What is everyone else doing?

**12/1/12 5:49 PM:** _I think the girls are shopping or spa-ing or something boring, and we have free time._

**12/1/12 6:00 PM: **Free time ;)

**12/1/12 6:01 PM:** _Can't wait_

**12/1/12 6:05 PM: **you don't think anyone will give us away, do you?

**12/1/12 7:09 PM: **_Nah, I trust D & J. They would never tell anyone_

**12/1/12 7:28 PM:** Not even M & A? Okay, I trust you! I just can't wait to see you!

**12/1/12 7:59 PM: **_Where do you want to meet?_

**12/1/12 8:57 PM: **Lets do le restaurant où at 4 : 15 ? Gtg, Mom's making me get off the computer. Byee, love you

**12/1/12 9:03 PM: **_Okay, see you then, Bye love you 2_

Kristen knew she had more than enough evidence, but clicked on Nikki's first friend, Gigi. When she scrolled and came to a picture post, she gasped. It was a screen-shot of an IM convo between NikkiFisher26 & GigiIsHot289.

12/1/12 4 pm in chatroom 27926486349629

**GigiIsHot289:** Heyyy Nik, u on?

**NikkiFisher26:** Hi Gigi!

**GigiIsHot289: **What's up girlfriend?

**NikkiFisher26:** Um… talking to Cam hbu?

**GigiIsHot289:** Lucky bitch!

**NikkiFisher26:** I'm lucky? And a dog?

**GigiIsHot289:** Whoops, meant Cam's lucky? Yes Cam is lucky to have a hot… girl like you.

**NikkiFisher26:** That's better! Seriously, remember what Cam told me?

**GigiIsHot289:** Bout Claire?

**NikkiFisher26:** Well we just scheduled a date anyway!

**GigiIsHot289:** I bet you'll have a lot of fun… u know what I mean hah

**NikkiFisher26:** Ya right… that's your area of experience

**GigiIsHot289:** Whoa! You know he wants to get with that! You've shown me the sexy IM convos and the video chat logs…

**NikkiFisher26:** Sure, he's going to… do it… with me when his girlfriend (not even ex- girlfriend) is on the trip!

**GigiIsHot289:** Come on, how long is your date?

**NikkiFisher26: **4 pm – 8 pm

**GigiIsHot289:** There's no way he'd do a FOUR HOUR DATE if he didn't plan on doing something else…

**NikkiFisher26:** Maybe… OMG I've been hoping for this. Like seriously thougj

**GigiIsHot289:** Told you so, and even if he doesn't; then why not make a move on him? I doubt he'd resist…

**NikkiFisher26:** Maybe….

Under the screenshot, Gigi had written a quick caption: **Looks like someone with the initials C & F is luuuuuuucky!** It had 120 likes.

Kristen clicked back onto Nikki's page, and retrieved her instagram. It was obvious that this was Nikki (duh), but an incriminating picture of her and Cam would take the evidence to the next level. Kristen quickly bypassed the endless pictures of friends, until a familiar floppy blonde mop caught her eye. In the picture, Nikki had her arms slung around Cam's shoulders, and their lips were just kissing. Unbelievable. Kristen quickly checked the date on the picture. June.

Kristen quickly printed about four copies, sending them to the plane's printer. Before anyone could get a glimpse, she grasped the twelve pieces of paper, and her phone, then sent out a quick text instructing the three girls to meet in the bedroom. One by one, the papers were held out, and Kristen watched stoically, still shocked, as Massie's jaw dropped, Alicia openly gasped, and Dylan's face turned paper white.

* * *

**You know what to do :)**

**Oh, by the way, Constructive Criticism R Us, I'll try and work on that? **


	9. neuf

9.

The 747-800

December 8th, lost-track AM

"Unbelievable." Massie Block hadn't been this shocked since…well, ever. What had happened to Cam, the sweet guy who cared about Claire? Cam, the guy Massie actually had a crush on in 7th grade for his unbelievable kindness? How was he suddenly all over this slut, Nikki? Maybe it was the fake chest, which was probably what gave her the audacity to think she could ever be in the PC.

Massie took one last look at the offensive pages, and then motioned for the girls to follow her down the stairs into the bathroom of Business class.

"Josh doesn't want Cam to be mad." Alicia rolled her eyes once the door was closed. "No more information. He thinks we'll tell Claire."

"We should!" Dylan insisted. "Wouldn't you want to know?"

"Shush! Cam's nervous right? Probably freaked about getting busted. That los-"

"What _are _we going to do?" Kristen interrupted.

Massie took a cleansing sigh. "Nothing. It's Claire's boyfriend, therefore it's her problem. We're supposed to be on vacation."

Something felt wrong in the pit of her stomach, but as usual, Massie brushed it away. The whole Claire-Cam-Nikki ordeal was so nawt her problem.

The 787-400

December 8th, who-knows-what-time-PM

Cam glanced at Claire's head snuggled in his shoulder, and gently pulled out his laptop. It wasn't that he necessarily didn't like Claire anymore, but it might help if she washed her hair. And maybe grew a chest.

He quickly logged into IM, _using his alias name instead of his typical one_. A few keystrokes later, a message had been delivered to NikkiFisher26. _Nikki._

**Soccerstar000:** Hey, I think we're almost halfway there!

**NikkiFisher26:** Yay, I cannot wait to see you!

**Soccerstar000:** I know, I'm really looking forward to our date.

**NikkiFisher26:** Me too… what exactly are we doing?

**Soccerstar000:** going to that restaurant, right?

**NikkiFisher26:** Yes… but for four hours? *winky face*

**Soccerstar000:** I guess so? Well, do you want to do something else?

**NikkiFisher26:** Yeah

**Soccerstar000:** Do you want to go shopping or something?

**NikkiFisher26:** I have something else in mind… Gtg, my mom is being weird and making me get off. Love you!

**Soccerstar000:** Okay… Love you too.

Cam brushed his golden hair back. Something else? She couldn't mean… no! No way! They had known each other for 2 years, so maybe it was time for another step. A big one. In preparation, Cam opened up a booking website, and booked an one-night suite at L'hôtel des petits amis malhonnêtes. Two nights might be pushing it. After all, Claire was awfully clingy. She would notice if he was gone for more than one night.

As Cam got up to go to the bathroom (and brag to Derrick & Josh), he made two fatal mistakes. One, he jostled Claire awake. And two? He didn't lock the computer.

The 747-800

December 8th, lost-track PM

Kristen had risen from her seat with a firm plan in mind. She was going to tell Massie that she was rich, and that her sudden wealth came from the same old money asMassie's did. And so she crept forward towards the bedroom Cabin 1, which was to be shared by Massie, Alicia, and Kristen.

Her curiosity halted her as she heard whispers filtering out through the door. She paused, and pressed her pale ear against the door.

"-her shoes?" Alicia's nasal tone registered to Kristen.

"I know!" Massie's slightly louder voice was easier to hear. "Do you think they're real?"

"Course not. She's poor." Kristen pressed away from the door. Well that narrowed it down. Namely to Claire and herself. Curiosity pulled her back to the door.

"-Burch?" Alicia giggled. "And her shirt? It _looks_ like real Pucci, but who knows?" Kristen glanced down at her light pink silk button-down. They were definitely talking about her. Claire had probably never set foot in a Pucci store in her life. It wasn't really her style. Or her price-point.

And so Kristen backed away from the door, slept in her seat. And vowed never to ever talk to her best friends again.

Of course, in the morning, the promise was forgotten in favor of keeping the peace. Because that's what Kristen did. Keep the peace.

* * *

**Hey! Plots are starting to tangle... get ready for some serious drama! Love you guys! Leave me a review!**

**Edited by the FANtastic Ailes Du Neige. ;)**

**splendeur**


	10. dix

10.

The 787-400

December 9th, 12:30 PM Australia time

According to the friendly Australian pilot, the girls had thirty minutes until landing on the sunny shores of Australia. They had made it through the twenty-hour plane ride and the seventeen hours of sleep with merely a couple of doses of melatonin to deal with a lot of Cam Fisher-caused-drama.

Massie still felt absolutely terrible for Claire. Really, really, _really _terrible. But to admit it? Not her style at all. Besides, this was her vacation. Nawt her relationship-therapist training course. Claire had to deal with it on her own. How else would she learn?

Meanwhile, Dylan was pinching her stomach, mentally calculating the calories of all the mini Twix bars she had downed on the trip. Judging by her extremely bloated face, she thinks she's gained five pounds. Why the hell is everything on a plane fattening?

Kristen is depressed. Sad for both Claire and herself. She's been flashing her new swag to everyone on the plane, but nobody has yet to mention it. Now that she's finally rich, can she puh-lease get some recognition for it?

Alicia is glaring at Josh for the umpteenth time. He's not giving the information she so desperately covets. Looks like someone's not getting any latina-love this trip. Ay dios mio!

Claire is asleep. Again. After finding the incriminating news, she brushed it off, assuming the booking was a miff. Sweet dreams, oblivious Claire. Enjoy them while you can.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Kristen tenderly shut her laptop screen, avoiding the flight attendant's scowl with a sheepish smile. At least somebody noticed the state-of-the-art Macbook, if not her best friends.

Her brooding distracted her till the planes rubber wheels hit the pavement with a loud screech. A fairly bumpy taxi later, the blue and yellow plane quickly unloading the lower level passengers. As Kristen exited (last, of course) she got a slightly unnerving feeling from the endless rows of blue patterned seats, empty and uniform. An omen, perhaps?

By the time Kristen collected herself and departed off the plane, the other girls were yards away, already standing in line for immigration control. By the time she arrived, they were already twenty or so heads away, so she sullenly sulked through by herself, fielding the monotonous attendants with nothing to distract her. By the time she caught up to them, the group of nine was already comfortably seated in a black chauffeured luxury van, anxiously awaiting her arrival. Not necessarily because they wanted her there. More like Mr. Harrington wouldn't let them leave her in a foreign country alone. Dramatized, of course. A little.

All things aside, the short ride to the hotel was exceptionally gorgeous. Massie firmly instructed the driver to take the long road along the beach-cliff, and the girls got a great view of the foamy surf crashing along the reddish-gold sandy beach. All of the colors seemed intensified, the blues of the sky cerulean, the freshly paved road gleaming black with snowy stripes. When Kristen slid open the window, fresh salty air flowed into the van for a few short seconds, before Massie snapped at her to shut the window. Obviously, her hair was much more important than the sights outside.

Kristen sullenly slumped against the wall of the van, tucking her legging-encased legs to her chest. She knew it was probably petty, to sulk like this, when half of the world would probably never get a chance to even go on an airplane, but still. Two of her friends, one her new-oblivious cousin, had mocked her behind her back, nobody cared enough to check on her, and most of all, there wasn't a touch of company on the bus. Not only were Massie, Alicia and Claire flirting ecstatically with their crushes, one (Cam!) slightly unresponsive, but Dylan was fast asleep next to her, curled up under her travel blanket. And so Kristen Gregory spent the entire thirty-minute ride alone.

Hotel Merrin loomed ahead. The soft yolk-colored plaster-style outer wall was lined with black rafters, adding a slight middle-eastern touch to the otherwise luxury-casual hotel. A khakis-wearing man met them as soon as their shoes broke the sidewalk, retrieving their names and collecting their baggage from the driver. He promised the 43-count load would be delivered to their suites within the hour. They transferred over, walking in a pack, to the front desk, where Massie was entrusted nine room keys. Five opened a four-bedroom suite on the fifth floor, three opened a three-bedroom boudoir across the way, and merely one opened a second-floor veranda suite for Derrick's dad. The parent didn't look thrilled, instead shooting Massie a half-pained half-annoyed look, but couldn't do a thing, as the Blocks and the Riveras had paid for all the board.

Robert Harrington exited the elevator on the second floor. That left eight middle-school kids to explore the ever-exclusive fifth floor on their own. Four mahogany doors stood equi-distant down a east-west oriented hallway. The mystery of which room was who's was revealed as Massie stepped ahead of the crowd and slid her ornate key into the far-right door, identifying it as the PC's territory. Derrick took the hint and led the guys into the opposite door, grinning and promising Massie a visit in a few minutes.

"Who's ready to see the suite?" Massie joked, once the three boys had disappeared into their room. "No one seems _too_ excited."

"I want to see the room." Dylan drawled from behind Kristen. Her chocolate-matted bedhead fro had grown to all-time high proportions.

"Kay, Dyl needs a shower." Massie giggled. "Reason enough." She pushed her palms flat against the heavy door, and it slid smoothly away, beckoning the girls into well designed tropical paradise. Kristen spent a bit too long admiring the light blue and dark brown center room, as by the time she reached the bedroom hallway, she discovered all rooms had been claimed. Massie & Alicia had rushed the master bedroom with the double queen beds and the view of the extensive courtyard, while Claire had chosen the king-bed-only room with the view of the pool. That left Dylan, who had half-heartedly dumped her stuff on the floor of the second double-twin-bed room in favor of the shower. With a sigh, Kristen placed her stuff on the second small mattress. Looks like she was back to square one.

**oOoOoOoOo**

Claire wrestled with the wood handle of the paddle brush, feeling it tangle deeper into the mess of hair. With a sigh, she yanked it out and gazed at the monstrosity of her hair in the mirror. Thank god Cam liked her for her. Otherwise, she was screwed.

Five minutes later, hair in a halfhearted messy ponytail and Keds on, Claire joined the girls in the boys suite. She took a seat on the masculine black leather couch, and nervously knocked her knees together. When Josh arrived in the room, Claire inquired about Cam.

"Cam?" Josh looked surprised, glancing at Alicia and looking away hurriedly. "Why?"

"No reason!" Claire tapped her foot. "Just want to hang out with him."

"Uh. Weren't you on a plane with him for like twenty hours?" Derrick cracked, entering the room and sitting on Massie's lap.

"Where is he?" This was getting strange.

"Went to go… get food. At the _grocery store_." Josh's tone triggered something in Claire's mind. The hotel.

"I'm… pretty hungry too," She stumbled over her words. "I'll join him."

* * *

**Hey everyone! Just an update chapter/setting up for the drama chapter. **

**Do you guys feel bad for Claire? Or think she had it coming? Leave me a review!**

**splendeur**


	11. onze

11.

The Dalton Residence, 424 Kangaroo Drive

December 9th, 3:34 PM Australia time

Nikki Dalton had no clue what to wear. Fifteen different outfits were splayed across her spacious light-pink and black boudoir. Her black lacy lingerie was a given, but what was in order for an almost-kind-of-first-date-with-benefits? Skirt or dress? Shorts or pants? Super-sexy corset, or refined-but-still-sexy silk blouse?

With a sigh, she closed her eyes and resulted to blindly grabbing three outfits and hanging them on her closet door. A side-slit red cocktail dress and black ferragamos stood straight on the left, luring Nikki's attention with the promise of Cam's eyes planted firmly on her and her strawberry-blonde curls. But then again, it did seem a little trashy, and she_had_purchased it from the Australia-equivalent-of-Spencer's, so it probably wasn't the best pick.

Staring back at her one over was her Angelika + Dodo floral print waterfall dress. A thick, creamy semi-dark leather buckle belt wrapped around it twice, matched with tan high heeled sandles. Paired with her brand-new Ray-Ban aviators, the outfit was certainly pulling the refined-but-oh-so-sexy look that Sex and the City had trademarked. Total ten.

Before she could change her mind, again, Nikki snatched the outfit, slid it on carefully past her tousled curls and painted makeup. Luck have it, her new vintage Chloè bucket bag matched, and she was almost past the door in merely a few moments.

"Byee Mom!" Nikki paused at the door, calling back into the modern house.

"Wait! Niki-Tree?" Nikki rolled her eyes, just as her mom appeared in a long sweeping silver ball gown and her white-blonde hair swept up into a tight chignon. "Tell me again what you are doing."

"Mom… Cam is taking me to lunch/dinner and then we're going to see the ballet." Nikki openly lied, the words coming to her seconds before spitting them out. "They just signed a new prima, and you know how I love ballet…"

"Yes?"

"And then we're going to see that new movie, uhmm… The Temple of Doom, and he's going to drop me off at my American friend's hotel and be back here by 1 pm tomorrow."

"Which American friend?" Her mom absentmindedly cocked her head. Truthfully, she didn't quite care what her daughter did, having been quite a wild child in her youth as well. But for appearance's sake, she did ask a few questions every now and then, even with the knowledge she was getting lies in response.

"Uh… Massie Block?" Nikki named the first person that came to mind; little knowing that it was a sin to use the alphas name in vain. Even if she couldn't hear you.

"Very well. Your father and I are going to the Smithwell's for Robert's birthday. We won't be accessible by phone."

Nikki breathed a sigh of relief once her mother had finally drifted off in a sea of vagueness. She shut the heavy front door behind her and dashed down the front steps towards the Dalton's chauffeured black SUV.

"Le restaurant où please." Nikki spoke hurriedly, half-tuning out Fernando, their driver. Instead, she opened a text to Gigi, her best best_best_friend.

**Nikki:**Hey! On my way! Soooooooo excited!

The response came quicker than lightning.

**Gigi:**Fab, kay, u will not believe what I just heard through my sources. so jealous.

**Nikki:**What?

**Gigi:**Cam booked a suite at_the_hotel.

**Nikki:**omg!

**Gigi:**It gets better!

Nikki's fingers flew across the keyboard. She hated it when Gigi baited her like this.

**Nikki:**spill!

**Gigi:**He got the…

**Gigi:**Honeymoon PACKAGE! Rose petals, everything!

Nikki squealed out loud, dropping her phone on the floorboards and earning a quizzical look from Fernando. Who the hell was Claire? Cam only cared about her. And this proved it.

**Nikki:**

"Madame, we have arrived." Fernando spoke. Nikki quickly wrote, GTG, and jumped out of the SUV, trying and failing not to rush towards the restaurant.

And there Cam Fisher was. His floppy hair shone with a fresh wash. Both his green & blue eyes sparkled, despite the thin sleepy wrinkles at the corners. And best of all, Drakkar Noir wafted off of him in waves, drowning out Nikki's Miu Miu in a totally-okay way.

For the next two moments, they stood in comfortable silence. This was what true love, or lust, or whatever felt like; Nikki realized.

"Table for two?"

The next hour, perfect was the sole word to describe it. Nikki couldn't find other words to describe it. Sublime? Impeccable? Beyond? Seamless?

When Cam placed his arm on her shoulders and guided her out to the chauffeured taxi station, giving the address of the hotel, Nikki almost swooned. No guy had been this thoughtful towards her before. Hot, yes. Caring, no. Maybe she would finally get a meaningful hookup, instead of the meaningless ones she had gotten used to.

Even when the concierge gave them a confused and alarmed glance as they turned over the room key to Cam, Nikki still thought it was perfect. But when they entered the elevator, panicked thoughts started streaming faster than Netflix.

_I'm too fat. I'm so fat. He can't see me naked! What the hell am I thinking! I've only done this, like two times. God! He's probably practiced like six hundred times! I hope I shaved. OMG! I should have got Gigi to do a seminar or something. Gawd, help me!_

The thoughts magically disappeared when Cam managed to slide the door open while keeping his smooth lips firmly on her, and stumbling over to the bed, wasting no time at all. In a minute, her dress was on its way south.

As you can guess, it escalated from there. But as Cam and Nikki were together in that beautiful hotel room, trouble was merely downstairs. Because Cam, yes Cam, had been making mistakes. And they were stacking up. And a pile of mistakes can only get so high.


	12. douze

**Another update? I think yes! **

* * *

12.

Les Petits Amis Hotel, Outside

December 9th, 4:15 PM, Australian time

Claire Lyons was confused. Perplexed. Stumped. Addled. Dazed. Disoriented. Confused may be the correct word. Where the hell was Cam Fisher? Or better, what was he doing? She scrutinized the wide glass hotel doors, as if they held the answers.

Before entering, she ran her fingers over her sweaty mass of pale hair. She found a tangle, ripped it apart, and then smoothed her hair again. Once again, she checked the name of the hotel. This was undoubtedly the one Cam had booked a room at. But for what? An international soccer club meeting? Some space? Something she didn't dare consider? Was Cam that much of a pervert? To think Claire would do that… with him… this early! In like, late High School maybe, but not eighth grade!

"May I help you?" A smiling brunette met her in the hallway, brows furrowed. Her brushed gold tag read "Miss Concierge."

"Uh… n- yeah!" Claire stuttered, formulating her sentence in her head. "Has Cam Fisher checked into this hotel today?"

"That's clas-… uhm…" The girl tapped a finger against her lip. "Actually, follow." She led Claire to the coat check. "He checked in about ten minutes ago, with a young girl. He booked the honeymoon suite, room 25C." The girl shook her head. "Gross, right? But it's not my place to judge. Wait, are you his… girlfriend?"

Claire didn't hear the last part. She was already dashing for the elevator.

_No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no. NO! Who? Who was Cam with? Was it true? Was he cheating? Like, seriously cheating? Not just kissing…. Like the real deal? What the hell? What the f*ck?_

Thoughts ran rampant through her head as she dashed into the elevator and slammed her fist into the 25-button, shocking two elderly people behind her. She ignored them and pressed speed-dial one on her phone.

_Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Maybe someone else was named Cam Fisher. Gawd Cam__,__ please pick up._

Strangely, the line connected with a beep and the sound started filtering out. Claire's jaw dropped further. The first sound was heavy breathing punctuated with soft moans. Then a soft girly voice spoke.

"Cam, I love you so much. You know that right? I love you, ugh, more than anything. I loved you the first time you showed up at camp. I did. Show me you love me too."

Cam's throaty voice responded. Claire's eyes started gathering water. "I love you too Nikki. You are so beautiful."

"More than Claire?" The girly voice floated back.

"Are you kidding? Yes, more than Claire." Claire let go of the phone. Tiny red jewels bounced in all directions, as the Motorola split in half.

"Oh my." The old couple warbled, watching Claire sink to the ground. When the button dinged for floor 25, Claire crawled out of the elevator, headed for the door about twenty yards ahead.

_You don't need to see this. Leave. LEAVE!_

She ignored herself, her sweaty palms grasping the silver doorknob, pulling herself to her feet. She tried turning the doorknob. It gave.

A blonde girl was splayed on the wide flat bed. If she sat up, she would be in the perfect position to see Claire standing, shocked, in the doorway. But, she was a bit too preoccupied. Cam's shaggy mane identified the boy lying on top of the girl. He was, literally, butt naked. Claire had seen enough advertisements to know what was going on. If she didn't already.

And so, face tear-streaked, and body trembling from anger, Claire picked up a small decorative stone, meant to hold the door open as a doorstop, and chucked it at Cam's head. Unfortunately, she missed, and the stone hit Cam's neck. Still, he dropped like a bag of flour, to the side of the blonde girl.

"CAM? OH MY GOD!" The girl sat up, panting. "WHAT HAPPENED? You!" She pointed towards Claire, completely unembarrassed of her bare state. "You did this! Who the hell are you?"

Long ginger-tinted blonde hair waved its way down to the girls mid back, hardly covering her large ah-bviously fake chest. Her body was curvy and her frame was lithe. She was probably four or five inches taller than Claire, probably reaching about the same height as Cam. Her large doe-eyes were light brown, slightly amber, and she owned a small button nose identical to Claire's. Her lips were full & bright cherry red. Claire was slightly shocked that Cam had gone for… that. Claire never thought he was one for the super sexy pin-up looking girls, but yet… here he was.

Why had he gone to… her… though? Was Claire that bad? Sure, she had stopped her weekly facials_(three hours is a long time!)_, and started breaking out (_not that noticeable, right_?). And her bangs were in that_weird_stage of growing out, and yeah, her hair was a little greasy and fat... and her thighs were looking a little bulbous…. Oh god. Suddenly, all of her imperfections came flooding back to her. Her hair. Her legs. Her abnormally small feet. Her limp hair. Her pale skin. Her torn up cuticles.

A loud ech-hem brought Claire back to the present.

"Excuse me. But who the hell are you?" The girl stood up, cavernous chest hanging over Cam as she checked his pulse. "And…"

"I'm Cam's girlfriend." Claire's voice didn't sound nearly as menacing as she wished it to be.

"What?"

"I'm Cam's ex-girlfriend." Claire repeated, taking a step back.

"Better." Nikki prowled around the bed. "Proper introduction, I'm the mistress. Ha! I've always wanted to meet you actually, Claire." The use of her name sent shivers down her spine. "Just so I can make sure you're not a threat. Good news to me."

"Surprised to find me here with your boyfriend?" Nikki's menacing voice cut through the very lines of Claire's being. She was over. Finished. Done. Never the same.

So she did the only thing she could do. She snatched the two sets of clothes by the bed and dashed towards the door in a sea of snot, crushed love, and cruel snickers. And tried to set them free.

The clothes danced in the light wind as Claire threw them into the atrium of the hotel. Not wanting to be near anything of theirs, she took the stairs down down down until she reached the bottom. Rock bottom. How fitting.

* * *

**PRO nikki or PRO claire? I think I know the answer... hah!**

**Mwah!**

**Splendeur**

****Edited by the ah-mazing Ailes Du Neige****

**Link to her stories on my profile page!**


	13. treize

**Hey guys! Here's another chapter! **

**I have a contest on my profile page, for anyone who is interested! Scroll all the way to the bottom of my page!**

**So, answer the question below in a question.**

**Two weeks ago, the responses were mainly CLAIRE. But a few Nikki's were tossed in there!**

* * *

13.  
Hotel Merrin Room 20-B (Boys Room)  
December 9th, 4:54 PM Australia time

"Are you guys worried about Claire?" Kristen gave up trying to keep her cool. It had been almost two hours since anyone had seen her, and even though Kristen was still sulking, she was slightly worried.

"Bet she's with Cam." Massie said lazily, enjoying her spot by Derrick so much that she couldn't bear to think hard about Claire's location. Alicia ignored Kristen too, toobusy cuddling with Josh to pay attention.

Dylan, in between stuffing her mouth full of microwave popcorn, spoke, "Yeah, kinda. Should we call Kris?"

"Yeah." Kristen whipped out her new iPhone and entered Cl- into her contact search. That's how far she got, as she heard the door across the hall- their door- being opened with so much force it hit the wall behind it. Kristen's widened eyes met Massie's and they both jumped to their feet, with no regard for what they left behind. They both dashed towards their room, both knowing consciously that Claire must have found out about the pig-headed Cam and his mistress. Hearing Dylan's thunderous footsteps and Alicia's whines confirmed that the other two members of their clique were fast behind.

When Massie opened the PC's door, nothing seemed different or strange. Then she heard the sobs. They all rushed (fast-walked in Alicia's case) towards Claire's room and tried the door. Locked.

"Claire! Are you okay? Open up!" She jiggled the doorknob. Locked. "Claire?"

Massie turned around slowly, having felt the heat of stares on the back of her neck. She leveled her amber eyes, meeting Dylan, Alicia, and Kristen's shocked orbs.  
"What." It wasn't necessarily a question, more of a primordial growl, but it got the message across. Now wasn't the time to act like silly Alphas, the front they put up for the outside world, now was the time to comfort their friend, no matter how strange she was. One at a time, the girls nodded, having understood Massie's glare.

"Done." Alicia ventured, nervously drawing her foot in a circle.

"Done." Kristen's voice was barely audible.

"And Done." Dylan's voice sounded, preluding her palm snatching the door and pushing one last time. It gave.

The smooth, dark door slid open, inch-by-inch revealing the interior of Claire's room. Dark brown carpet was illuminated by streaks of gold late-afternoon sunlight, drawing intricate patterns on the otherwise standard-issue flat dark brown rug. When the door stopped at about forty-five degrees, Massie stepped forward, took a big breath, and pressed the door open with flat palms. It was silent.  
Cautiously, in unison, the girls peered around the door. The bed stood stoically, seemingly protecting the girl that laid on top, in Flying Eagle, Miss Mason, OCD's yoga teacher's beloved pose. There was nothing calm, or serene about this pose, as Claire only had one red sandal on, and even-face-down, you could tell she wasn't okay. Not even close. Maybe she would never be okay. Not this year, maybe not next. Or the year after that, because this girl was shattered, smashed, wrecked; unbelievably so.  
From the sobs that racked her small frame, to the disastrous state her hair was in, Massie knew this wasn't something a pep talk could fix. Not even. The thing was, Massie Block usually had a plan in times like this. But, for the first time, in well, ever, she had no idea what to do. Not yet.

* * *

Outside Hotel Merrin, waiting for town car  
December 9th, 7:34 PM Australia time

* * *

"I don't give a shit, Derrick. If he's coming, we're not going." Massie crossed her arms over her chest. "Tell him that."

The tinny voice of Cam Fisher filtered out of the speaker on Derrick's phone. "Massie, if she's not even going… Why are you punishing me? I want to come out with you guys."

"Maybe because you're an ignorant cheating bastard pig?" Massie said flippantly, and made a move to press the red button on the phone, then paused. "And maybe because Claire is my friend? This is over, Fisher. And unless you learn some remorse, you better learn to like my attitude. Good bye." Massie tossed the phone back at Derrick.

"Sorry about him." Derrick's cheeks flamed red.

"Not your fault." Massie said carelessly. "You didn't know he was going to do that. Gawd! When is this cab coming?" She whipped out a Glossip Girl tube and started applying.

"The thing is… I kinda did?" Massie paused, the Aussie Amber still touching her lips.

"What?" Massie placed the gloss in her envelope clutch. The soft tan leather was Givenchy's best, and contrasted against her casual unraveled navy bandage minidress, eliminating any matchy-matchy elements with Kristen's similar beige Ralph Lauren cargo pants and navy silk blouse. Massie had been meaning to ask where Kristen had been getting all of these expensive clothes, but the day's events had distracted her. Speaking of. "What?" She repeated, once she realized that he hadn't responded.

"IknewCamandNikkiweregoingtou mmmmhavesexImeanhookuphetold me." Derrick mumbled.

"Màs despacio por favor." Alicia spoke from Massie's left.

"I knew Cam and Nikki were going to do that." Derrick spat, eyes on the floor. He looked ashamed.  
"Oh?"  
"I knew because he told me and I didn't warn Claire. I should have."

"Okay." Massie said thoughtfully. "Whatever." Her tone suggested it wasn't just fine. Not at all.

* * *

**Okay, question. Do you like clique fanfictions where Massie is suddenly a Soccer Star? (or any where she does something extreme out of her character)**


	14. quatorze

**14.**

**Hotel Merrin; The girl's suite**

**December 9th, 8:40 PM**

Claire had reached a decision. She was never-ever going to leave that bed.

12 minutes later, she was up. Searching for the remote, no less. Once she had settled on a mindless sitcom, she vowed again never to move.

4 minutes later, she _really_ had to pee. So she got up again. Once she settled back down, she wrapped her comforter around her so that she felt like sushi. Time for thinking. She had pushed it off for too long, at least two hours. Maybe she'd feel better once she spilled to herself.

Basic facts first. Cam… and Nikki were together. In the most physical way possible. And there's no way that couldn't have been premeditated. So they were probably in love too. That was enough to send Claire back into a shriveled tear-streaked mess. Thank god the other girls were out at dinner.

_Vacations suck. Planes suck. This bedspread sucks. Australia sucks. My hair sucks. My face sucks. Hotels suck. Boyfriends suck. Love sucks. _

Claire buried her face in the pillow. She assumed she should have felt something more than tremendous self-loathing and pure sadness. But she didn't. Hate? No. Jealousy? Of course. Worry? None.. Cam was fine. A-ok. Better than he was before.

She tried to focus on the TV, realizing the couple on-screen was locked in a heated embrace. One blind scramble later, the couple disappeared. Claire cautiously opened one eye and peeked at the LED screen, scanning for safety. An add for… _that_ hotel. Click. Dancing with the stars, Wait… no that guy looks like Cam. Click. Modern Family? Safe.

She must have fallen asleep after that, as she awoke to blinding sunlight and a note on her chest. Claire rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tried to comprehend the note in front of her.

**_Claire,_**

**_You were asleep last night, and this morning at ten when we tried to wake you. You must have been worn out. Don't worry, you deserve that, I guess. If you get up before 12, meet us at Café Café across the street at 12:25 for an early lunch. If you don't, just text us. We're probably going shopping._**

**_Massie_**

A little cold, sure, but Claire grasped the lifeline fully before she could sink back into the trap of her warm bed. She heaved her strangely heavy body out of the bed and eased her way towards her phone. The empty lock screen screamed **11:03**. More than enough time. She shuffled towards the bathroom, and at one look at herself in the mirror, she almost shrieked. Her hair was a rat's nest suited for at least three, and mascara ran under her eyes all the way to her lips. Her nose sagged, her face was broken out to extremes, and her eyes were dulled, no longer a bright shining blue. Feeling hopeless for a second, Claire decided to repair herself. Cam or no Cam. But mostly because of Cam. She had let herself slip lately, and maybe… Claire cut herself off there.

Thirty minutes later, her hair was finally untangled, cleaned and pinned back with an old hand-me-down Tiffany clip from Massie. Now she faced her clean, but red face. Sure of her status as alone, she tiptoed into Massie's shared room and uncovered an extra bottle of her Judarcardica Indian Turmeric & Aloe at-home-facial; and spread it over her face. It stung, sure, and the acne wasn't gone, but the redness dissipated. Her pale skin looked normal now.

Enthused, Claire skipped over to her suitcases, and rooted through them until she discovered a cotton strapless gray dress, and her new red wraparound sandals. A matching red cross body purse finished the look, and she was out the door minutes later. She snatched one of the keycards lying on the side table, admiring the gold detail as she walked towards the stairs. She was too energized to whimper pathetically as she passed the boy's room, and almost too animated to notice voices in the stairwell. And that's how Claire remained, until the voices were close enough to be deciphered. The intoxicating smell of Drakkar Noir wafted up, and Claire instinctively took a deep inhale. Then she stopped cold. That wasn't _her_ fragrance anymore. It was Nikki's.

"I don't give an eff D, I do what I want."

"That is the… what has happened to you?" Derrick's voice spat

"Don't tell me you're not wishing Massie would put out."

"Dreaming, maybe, but we're in fucking eighth grade. So, no!"

"Well, I got what I deserved, and needed, so eff off! It's not your business." Cam's voice trailed off, as the two boys reached the landing where Claire was frozen.

"Asshat." Derrick muttered in Cam's ear, before awkwardly shifting his weight, and the full ice bucket he was carrying to his left. "You okay, Claire?"

"Totally." Claire spat, eying Cam straight in the eye, taking great pleasure in seeing a splotchy bruise on the back of his neck.

Claire turned tail and moved towards the exit. The words had cut her like sharp wire. Cam… deserved Nikki? And she wasn't worth his… time? _Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry._ _You've made it this far. At least get out of the building. _Claire hobble/ran through the lobby, trying to sooth herself and ignore the heated looks she received from every direction. Once she found a small crevice outside, near the taxi line, she plopped down with no regard for the dirt or even the likely presence of scorpions, and started to sob. Now was the time she could cry.

* * *

This was a little rushed, but it had to be written like this. So, team CAM or team DERR?

-sp


	15. quinze

**Here's another chapter! I'm really going to flesh the other vacation out this time, for those of y'all who remember the original story! So don't be surprised if the plot is a ton different! Make sure to R & R!**

**This was not beta'd, so don't be alarmed by mistakes! Just point them out, if you would like!**

* * *

15.

Café Café Restaurant

December 10th, 12:50 PM

"Hungry." Dylan moaned for the umpteenth time. She eyed a passing plate of Truffle Fries, wishing Massie would get off her high horse and let them order. "Masss…"

"What?" Massie snapped, looking up from her phone. She pressed send on another row of question marks to Claire. The girl had texted her earlier, and promised to make the time and place, but now it was twenty minutes after she was supposed to arrive, nearing the end of fashionably late and getting into obnoxiously late.

"Claire is super late, no matter how 'damaged' she is. Can we puh-lease order?" She made a move to wave the waiter over.

"Dylan!" Massie hissed, smacking her hand down. "Kuh-laire is none of your business," she continued, seeing Dylan's mouth open, "and we have more important things to worry about than your stomach."

"Yeah!" Alicia seconded it.

"I see her." Kristen stood up, squinting her eyes. "I think."

"Really?" Dylan shot out of her chair, ready to run to Claire and make her hurry up. A second look ensured that would be pointless. Claire was already going high-speed, overturning many chairs and plates in her wake. As she neared the table, Dylan spotted black mascara tracks weaving their way down her face, meeting in a big murky splotch on her gray tank dress. Her hair was a mess, covered in dirt, and her fingernails were bloodied to extremes.

"What the hell?" Kristen whispered.

"Emagawd!" Massie and Alicia gasped, bringing their slightly tanned hands to their lips.

"Oh." That was all Dylan could muster. The extreme gripes of hunger were keeping her from focusing completely on Claire.

"What happened to you?" Massie broke the stunned silence. "Let's go to the bathroom. You cannot look like that in here!" She rushed off with Claire in hand, leaving three shocked girls and an empty table.

"I see your other friend has arrived." Their waiter reappeared, curling his lip in snide. "Are you prepared to order now?"

"N-"

Dylan cut Alicia off. "Yes! Yes! Yes we are!" She quickly rattled off her choices, "I'll have a double order of the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink omelet, hold the egg-part and the veggies. Oh! And two chocolate croissants, and throw in a plate of those delicious fries too."

The waiter's comment was cut off by Alicia's sharp inhale.

"Unlike my pig of a friend, I'll have the Chicken Caesar, dressing on the side. One of my friends will have the same."

"Make that three." Kristen piped. "And our other friend will have the BLT, extra bacon, with fries." Alicia tacked the order on.

"Very well." The waiter bowed, and scurried off.

"I swear to god, Dylan, you are going to be four hundred pounds one day." Alicia chided, causing Kristen to break out into hysterical laughter. Dylan reddened.

Once she had looked up, the two empty seats to her left had been filled. Claire had undergone one of Massie's infamous two-minute fix-up routines, looking ten times better than she had started with. She was now wearing Massie's casual black blazer over her dress, hiding the embarrassing mascara stain. Her face was wiped free of makeup, and replaced with a few layers of creamy foundation and bronze eye shadow. Still, the dirt remained in her hair, turning the platinum color dirty blonde, but it was brushed back and fastened into a French twist. She looked expectable, except for the trembling lip, which gave way to a little cry of sadness as she stared at the ground. Dylan's attention was immediately otherwise occupied, discovering a basket of bread on the table. Hunger definitely presided over friend's issues.

Outside Café Café Restaurant

December 10th, 1:41 PM

"E-nuff." Massie whispered into Alicia's ear. "This is e-nuff moping. She's seriously bringing everyone down." She glanced at Claire and Kristen, moping side by side down the sidewalk.

"I'm sure she'll get over it."

"No, not without some serious help." Massie muttered.

"What?" Alicia inquiered.

"Cam." Massie mouthed, noticing Claire slowing. "Said that he deserved Nikki. In front of her face."

"Asshole. But, what can we really do about it?" Alicia mouthed back. Massie pulled out her phone in response.

**Massie: We should take her away**

**Alicia: What? Where? Why? **

**Massie: She will not heal on her own… not without ruining r vacay**

**Massie: we should leave as soon as we can**

**Alicia: Where? Why? **

**Massie: Because, I'm getting sick of K and D anyway, and if we take Claire away, we can get away from them + Cam**

**Alicia: yeah, I guess, but we're also leaving the guys, and where would we go**

**Massie: They'll be here when we get back. Besides, if we leave tomorrow, we can spend like ten days there and then be back before Christmas Eve**

**Massie: I'm thinking Melbourne, + there's this awesome resort which was my second choice after Sydney**

**Alicia: okay**

**Massie: settled. We leave tomorrow**

Hotel Merrin; The girl's suite

December 10th, 4:51 PM

Dylan, Alicia, Kristen, Massie, Derrick and Josh were gathered around the flat-screen TV. Claire, despite promises of a Cam-free night, was locked in her room, probably sob-eating while throwing chocolate-covered truffles at a romantic movie. Probably.

She still hadn't been informed of the plans to leave tomorrow, the two girls planning on a wake-up-thirty-minutes-before-leaving surprise. Who knew what Claire could do if she knew they were whisking her away to reinvent herself. She could climb out the window and live on the streets. Catch a freight ship back to the US. Get bitten by a humongous spider and die.

Massie caught Alicia's eye and winked. They were both excited about the mini-vacation, relishing in the pure genius of the idea. In exchange for just a few meaningless dollars, they would fix their "friend," while getting away from the two who were annoying them the most.

Massie clapped twice, relishing in the gaze of five pairs of eyes.

"Alicia and I would like to announce something." She pulled Alicia to her side. "In favor of our hurting friend, we are taking a little "detour" vacation to help her out." Alicia snickered by her side. "It should take about ten days, and we'll be back by Christmas Eve."

"What?" Derrick cried out. "You just can't leave.

"What?" Everyone echoed.

"Claire needs us, guys. We're sorry." Alicia said as sincerely as she could. And with a nod in each other's direction, they fled to their room to pack for their great adventure.

The Dalton Estate

December 10th, 10:01 PM

Nikki double-clicked on Google, navigating to FaceBook, and then to Gigi's page. Another double-click later revealed that her BFF was indeed 'on,' and accepting private messages. Nikki quickly composed one.

**N: We did it!**

**G: Yay! That's my girl ;) **

**N: It felt awesome, but then Claire showed up**

**G: lol, how? What did u do?**

**N: well she has like dead-aim when it comes to rocks…**

**G: No! She didn't attack u, right? **

**N: no I scared her off, but she knocked out Cam**

**G: was he okay?**

**N: yeah, I woke him up eventually, but she stole our clothes so we had to buy hotel robes and wear them out**

**G: OMG LOL**

**N: not funny… haha! My mom was like wat, but I lied and told her I was hanging out with Massie (lol, like I would) and they stole my clothes as a "good natured prank" **

**G: u r such a genius! So, r u going to do it again?**

**N: I texted him about tonight, but he didn't answer calls go straight to vm**

**G: I bet she broke his phone**

**N: ohhhhh that makes sense**

**G: yeah, listen Jack is here ;) gtg**

**N: have fun ;) I hope I can have some more fun soon!**

**G: yeah totally!**

**_Gigi has signed off at 10:15:30 PM_**

**_Nikki has signed off at 10:15:55 PM_**

* * *

**Review-question time!**

**What should the PC do to get back at Cam/Nikki? I have ideas, but I would love to see what you can come up with! **

**xx,**

**splendeur**


	16. seize

**THANKS FOR 200 GUYS :D**

* * *

16.

Hotel Merrin; the girl's suite

December 11th, 5:50 AM

"Up-and-at-em or whatever!" Massie banged her iron pot against Claire's door before barging in. Alicia had bribed Josh to fake the lock on Claire's door, making it feel locked from the inside, but allowing the pair to barge in on her whenever they needed too.

Of course, all of the guys and Kristen and Dylan thought that the trio was leaving later, after breakfast. But, during a late-night conference last night, Alicia had suggested leaving earlier, to make a clean break. Massie agreed. And besides, none of them really wanted to deal with Kristen's contempt and Dylan's whines, even for one more hour. The guys would just have to deal being by themselves for a week and a half.

"Whaaa?" Claire mumbled, opening one crusty blue eye and glaring at her.

"No time, no time." Massie sing-songed, smiling as she turned on the overhead light. The previously freaky dark corners were illuminated, and Claire blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to adjust. She brought a finger to her eye, and dug the sleep out of her half-narrowed eyes.

"What?" Claire repeated, clearer this time. "What… why are my bags… why?" Massie followed her gaze over to the corner of the room. All five of the bags was gone, the hardwood floors blank and orderly. Alicia was more proficient than usual.

"I'll explain in the car." Massie's cheeks hurt from fake smiling, so she dropped the smile and flat-lined her lips instead.

"You're sending me home!" Claire shot out of the bed, backing away from Massie. "You are! Don't try to deny it!"

"N-"

"Ugh! Seriously? Just let me be!" Claire's voice neared a shriek, as her pupils dilated and she scooted back from Massie.

"We're not going home!" Massie giggled nervously, wishing she could tell Claire to shut up. "We're just going on a tiny little detour trip."

"With everyone?"

"Nope."

"Just girls?" Claire sighed with relief, finally complying, shrugging a gray splendid v-neck over her shoulders and sliding on orange athletic shorts. Massie instinctively shied away from the color combo, reminded of PMS's, her retched old school, spirit colors.

"Just us." Massie simplified the answer, not wanting her to get her hopes up about the other girls hitching a ride.

"Us?"

"Us three. You, me, Alicia."

"Wh- Okay."

"Hurry!" Massie crossed and uncrossed her arms, begging Claire with her eyes to hurry up and not dilly-dally longer. She took the hint, and slid on sheepskin slippers with shared urgency, and shuffled after Massie.

Massie heard every shuffle like it was metal on glass, and prayed to god that Kristen and Dylan's doors were somewhat sound resistant. The suite was already empty of Alicia, the Spanish beauty was probably already in the waiting escalade. With another strict shush, Massie waved Claire in front of her, and made a move to shut the door. It clicked, and she turned to go.

She smacked into something solid. Claire was frozen in front of her, her mouth half-open.

"Move." Annoyance was clear in Massie's voice, along with a touch of contempt.

"He's in there… isn't he…?" Claire whispered.

"Duh." Massie quipped, momentarily forgetting her self-promise to be nice to Claire. "Hurry. Our flight takes off at Se-vuhn."

"Okay." Claire mumbled, allowing herself to be drug along. "I'm okay." Maybe if she kept repeating that, one day it would become true.

* * *

Kristen wasn't sure what had woken her. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, looking around the pale robin-egg painted room, from the black armchair in the corner, to the mahogany closet filled full, and finally to the slightly cracked door of the bathroom that connected her and Dylan's rooms. Nothing seemed amiss, except for the fact that it was six o'clock in the morning, thirty minutes prior to when Kristen usually got up. _Probably something biological_, Kristen concluded, and sat up.

Sliding on her fluffy moleskin slippers, she flopped out into the hallway, still in her raw silk fitted boy shorts and revealing cami. Massie and Alicia's room door was closed, as with Claire's, and so Kristen reached the conclusion that she was the first up. Perfect.

She busied herself in the kitchen, pulling pots and pans of all sizes out of the cabinets, scrambling for basic ingredients in the stocked pantry. Maybe Kristen could finally get on Massie's good side, after all, what alpha _didn't_ like a good low-calorie breakfast in the morning? Well, Massie usually didn't eat breakfast, but _still_. It showed Kristen cared.

Fifteen minutes later, right after the last low-fat blueberry pancake got poured into a frying pan, Kristen heard clomping behind her.

"Hey Dyl." Kristen smiled.

"Foood." Dylan mumbled. "But it's so early." Kristen turned, seeing Dylan in a black cotton nightie, that was actually cute. A black and cream lace eye cover held a mass of ginger curls away from her pale peaches-and-cream complexion.

"Coming right up." Kristen yawned. She was surprised Massie wasn't up yet, the alpha was a notorious light sleeper, and she must have heard the clangs and bangs of Kristen's "gourmet" cooking. "Mind going to wake Mass and A up?"

"What about Kuh-laire?" Dylan caught her yawn, stretching her chapped lips.

"Her too."

"Alrighty, then." A few clomps later, Kristen heard the squeak of the first door on the left, Claire's room.

"Claire? Claire?" Dylan half-shouted into the room, seeing nothing but a clean bedspread and no luggage. "What the hell?"

"I bet she moved into Massie's room!" Kristen called, rolling her eyes. What was with Claire and her sudden neediness?_ I mean, seriously. It's her boyfriend… not like her brother. Wait? That makes no sense._

Another squeak of a door later, Dylan returned to the kitchen, her features grim.

"They aren't there."

"What?" Kristen almost dropped a pancake. "They left?"

"'sume so." Dylan slid onto a kitchen counter stool. "Food?"

"They… left. I thought…. Wait, never mind." Kristen fumed. A classic Massie trick.

"Why do you think they left?" Dylan grabbed an apple off the counter, and bit into it, too hungry to wait for the pancakes, which were currently cooking.

"Because their them." Kristen spat, not bothering to make sense. "You know what? I made all this food. And now there's only two of us." A smile bloomed across her face.

"Problem?"

"Not a problem, actually a solution." She mused.

"Explain?"

"Dyl, call Derrick. Tell him that we're having a co-ed breakfast." Kristen ticked off her fingers. "And tell him that two hot committee members are waiting, and they're _awfully_ lonely."

* * *

**Kristen Kristen Kristen. Didn't anyone ever tell you _not_ to mess with the Alpha's boyfriend? **

**So here's another chapter guys, and for all you veterans, yes, this is taking a different turn of events from the original fanfic. It's about to get a lot more dramatic, so keep tuned!**

**Thoughts? Thanks for all the fab ideas, I plan on using a few!**

** New question(s): (your understanding, no right answer)**

**What color is Cam's hair?: **

**Are Kristen's eyes green or blue?: **

**I see a lot of difference throughout the fandom, but my understanding is that Cam's hair is blonde, and Kristen's eyes change color! I'd love to hear your input! **

**xx**

**splendeur**


	17. dix-sept

**Here's another chapter!**

**Again, diverting from the original plot! Make sure to answer the questions at the bottom in a review :)**

* * *

17.

Cains, Australia : International Airport

December 11th, 9:00 AM

"Alright girls." The pilot exited the small cockpit at the front of the private plane. "You all can leave now." He gazed warily at Claire's snot-streaked face, and then to Alicia, who had pillows on either side of her face.

Massie nodded once, a bit embarrassed, and started ushering Claire out the door. She tore the pillows away from Alicia's not-really-asleep form and pulled her to her feet. A few seconds later, they were both out the small door of the five-seat plane, and Massie quickly angled her silver Tory Burch flats after them.

"Hey! Miss." The young co-pilot's sharp tones stopped her in her tracks.

"What?" Massie snapped. If he was going to complain about Kuh-laire…

"Your friend… the Spanish one? Can I have her number?" He beamed, practically reflecting sunlight off of his bleached teeth.

"Uh, no. We don't date pilots." _Effing perfect… Just perfect… _Massie thought bitterly. Here she was, trying to be a good friend, and Alicia still managed to steal all of the attention. Massie bared her teeth in a weak imitation of a smile, and continued out the door. Outside, Alicia and Claire were on opposite sides of the plane.

"If you would stawp crying!" Alicia hissed over the dwindling noise of the engine. "It's so annoying!"

"Listen, A-leesh-a." Claire spit-sobbed the words. "I'm _hurting_! I'm… I'm _hurting inside!_" Massie wordlessly took a spot next to Alicia.

"Well, you don't have to torture _us_." Massie found her voice, surprising herself. She had been exceptionally patient on the plane.

"I'm hurting! Can't you see that?" Claire shouted, waving one hand around. Her eyes grew wide and crazed.

"That doesn't give you the right to start bawling when you see a bowl of gummy bears!" Alicia spat. "Come on!"

"But…. He gave them to me all the time!" Claire sobbed softly.

"Well, hate to break it to you honey, but he knew Nikki way before he ever met you." Alicia casually leaned against one of her suitcases. "You were just a filler."

"Alicia!" Massie's jaw dropped. "What the hell?" _That wasn't part of the plan! That was supposed to be a secret! We all knew if we told her…_

Claire looked wordlessly at Alicia, and then collapsed onto the asphalt, blubbering incoherently.

_…that would happen._

"What? She deserves to know!"

"Effing amazing." Massie murmured to herself. "You know what, Alicia? You deal with her. Meet me outside on the private car pickup lane in twenty minutes. There should be a car waiting."

"Why me?" Alicia whined.

"You're the one who thought it would be a great idea to give her information she. didn't. have. to. know!"

* * *

"Dude. Get up." Derrick's rough tones echoed through Cam's cavernous room. "Get up," he repeated.

"Why?" Cam murmured, absentmindedly running his fingers through his onyx hair.

"Well, number one, your cell has been going off constantly, and it's getting pretty effing annoying." Derrick ticked off one finger. "Two, you missed breakfast, and it was pretty great."

"For what reason? You guys to find replacements while your hoes are away?"

Derrick gritted his teeth, but continued, "And three, we're headed out to a water park in thirty minutes. We thought you could invite Nikki."

"Really?" Cam's ears perked up. "A waterpark?"

"Largest in the country."

"And you won't make fun of Nikki?"

"As long as you don't tell Massie or Alicia where we went… and with who."

"That sounds amazing!" Cam's voice picked up excitement. "Can we rent a cabana?"

"We rented three." Derrick's voice flamed.

"Look who's a hypocrite now!" Cam smirked. Here Derrick was, getting all values on him, now he was hoping to get some action while his girlfriend was away. "So which one do you want?"

Derrick left without another word, leaving Cam smirking. His phone buzzed again, and he leaned over to grab it from the nightstand. Six messages.

**Nikki: Hey, you ignored me last night, what's up? **

**Nikki: Gigi told me she got out of town… want to meet up somewhere? **

**Mom: Cameron, how Australia? **

**Mom: I meant hows**

**Nikki: Hey!**

**Kristen: Did Derr tell you about the waterpark yet?**

The last one made Cam sneer again. So now Kristen was calling Derrick "Derr." Perfect blackmail. He pressed two buttons to screen-shot, and then drafted three messages out.

**Cam: Hey babe, we're going to a waterpark today… wanna come along? There's going to be a private cabana :)**

_Send_

**Cam: Hi mommy! Australia's going great! How's dad?**

Snickering, Cam pressed send.

**Cam: Yup. Just invited Nikki.**

Nikki replied instantly.

**Nikki: Perfect. I'll be in your hotel lobby in 20?**

**Cam: Great, see you then :)**

Kristen's reply came a few minutes later.

**Kristen: Fine. You can't tell Massie or Alicia though…**

Cam didn't bother responding, kicking his chocolate-covered comforter off of his body, and jumping to his feet. Today was going to be a good day.

* * *

Massie slowly weaved through the passengers waiting for taxis, wanting to delay her arrival at the red BMW convertible by as much as she could. She reached into the smallest shopping bag she carried, the Hermes one, and slid on her new giant black sunglasses. As she got closer to the car, Massie realized Alicia was in the front seat, and Claire was in the back; facedown.

"Hey Leesh!" Massie beamed, interrupting her conversation with the cute driver. He looked barely 18, and had the cutest dimples. Massie casually opened the front door, glaring at Alicia to get out of her seat. Alicia sighed loudly, and then pushed Claire to one side of the bench seat.

"Hi, I'm Massie." She extended a hand, meeting the tanned rough hand of the driver.

"Miles." The corner of his lips curled up. "So we'll be headed to Kea, the resort?"

"Yes." Massie batted her eyelashes, giggling. Alicia pinched her bicep from behind, at the same time she felt her butt buzz.

**Alicia: Seriously?**

**Massie: What? It's not like Derrick will know.**

**Alicia: He's 18**

**Massie: Like we're ever going to see him again, have some fun**

A loud stomach-racking chicken-like sob from Claire rocked the car. Massie side-glanced at Miles, and then busted out laughing. Alicia and Miles joined in.

"Are… are you laughing at me?" Claire sniffled. "I'm hurting."

"We know. Now, can you puh-lease shush?" Massie hissed, the humor of the situation gone.

**Massie: She's so pathetic **

**Alicia: Tell me abt it, she sounds like a chicken**

**Massie: Ik… she's our friend**

**Alicia: Do you even have a plan? **

**Massie: Of course I do**

**Alicia: …**

**Massie: Make her over, duh. Get Cam jealous**

**Alicia: just that? **

**Massie: of course not. I always have a plan**

* * *

She's Massie Block, of course she has a plan :)

Okay! Question time!

1. Do you want a blow-by-blow of the waterpark? Or just the highlights?

2. On a scale of one-five, how do you like the way this story is going? 1- I hate it, 5 - It's the best

3. What should happen next? (I have plans, just wondering what you guys think!)

xx

splendeur


	18. dix-huit

18.

Sydney, Australia: The Dalton Estate

December 11th, 9:57 AM

"What to wear… What to wear," Nikki murmured, tossing various swimsuits out of the dresser, searching desperately for the pale eggshell blue Miu Miu bandeau. It was her favorite, and it _really _showed off her body, which would always be a plus in front of Cam.

Finally, her fingers brushed against a smooth nylon blend. Seconds later she was dressed in the lacey number, marveling at how tan it made her skin look. The girls were going to flip out when she showed up. Not that she had ever really seen them in person, but still, she was probably sultrier. Even more than Alicia.

Beside her, the black built-in intercom crackled to life.

"Your friends are here, Nikki," Heidi, her housekeeper, snapped into the box. She was right in the middle of her weekly cleaning, and the annoying call had interrupted her waxing.

"Be right there!" Nikki smiled at her reflection one last time, thankfully, her dirty blonde hair was still in it's naturally curly, but shiny state; and her waterproof makeup made her look like a gawd. Adding a gauzy revealing silk caftan as a cover-up, a bright orange cross-body and a sea foam green towel, she winked at her reflection. _Greek Goddess_.

A brisk walk, two slips on the slick floor in bare feet, and one scolding by Heidi later, Nikki was out the door, and headed towards a black Mercedes van that was halfway jackknifed into the short driveway. Nikki half-walked-half-ran, stumbling as she tried to _not _stub her freshly painted toe onto the stone. The last thing she needed was for the blemish-free blush to suddenly get a angry black scuff.

As she neared the van, she noticed a redhead in the front of the van, next to the driver, meticulously eating a tangerine. Dylan, no doubt. The girl jumped as soon as Nikki pulled the sliding door open, creating a suction of air.

"Nikki! My homedawg!" A blonde boy sitting directly in front of her howled. Derrick. Nikki smiled, she remembered him from all the pictures Cam sent. Derrick half stood, slinging his arm around her shoulder. Nikki glanced above his elbow as she returned the friendly embrace, and caught the eye of a blonde.

"Kristen." The blonde said flatly. Nikki shrugged out of Derrick's embrace and offered a hand.

"Nikki," she responded cautiously. She needed these girls on her side.

"Pleasure." Kristen's grip was tight, and the glint in her eye spoke a hundred more words for her. _Be careful, because I'll ruin you. _

"Hey, Derr, mind keeping your paws off my girlfriend?" Nikki gratefully step-crouched away from the first row, passing a boy slouched against the window (Josh?) and gladly slid down next to the owner of the voice.

"I missed you." She mumbled, sniffing his neck in what she hoped was a seductive manner. Drakkar Noir seeped into her nose, and she happily snuggled closer.

"I've been thinking about you…" Cam's eyes brightened. "We'll have such a good time today."

"Of course we will, silly!" Nikki giggled. "Why _wouldn't_ we?"

* * *

"Thanks so much," Massie cooed to Miles, making sure to slide out of the car with her assets out, closing the door with as much sass as she could.

"Of course, Miss Block. I'm here always, 18 hr valet, so please call if you need anything." Miles smiled back, almost searing her eyes with the bleached perfection. A screech of wheels later, the red BMW was gone, and Massie sauntered towards the hotel doors, trying not to look like she was impressed at the high arching architecture or the thousands of glowing white seashells replacing asphalt on the ground.

Kea Resort was top-notch. Not in like the normal, you-get-a-chocolate-on-your-bed way, but in the this-is-going-to-be-the-best-stay-of-your-life way. A smiling college-age boy dressed in khakis and a black polo pulled the door open for Massie, but she was too awed to respond. As soon as she stepped into the tiled lobby, a gigantic marble statue of a mermaid holding a fish towered twenty feet above her, surrounded by a wide fountain winking with fresh pennies and dimes. Casual well-dressed men and women calmly walked through the quiet lobby, probably headed for a late lunch or to the spa. To her left, a high marble-topped mahogany writing desk stood stoically, holding an iMac. Alicia and Claire stood in front of it.

Massie tried to mask the mature sophisticated pace of passerby, and took her time getting to the desk.

"Checking in? Last name?" The smiling brunette lilted, tilting her head to the side.

"Block." Massie matched the high tone, making Alicia giggle behind her.

"Perrrfect." Her eyes darted back and forth on the screen. "Block, ten nights plus stay… a two bed suite. Perfect!"

"Now, would you like a room over the ocean, or over the beach?" the girl continued, oblivious to the fuming cloud over Massie's head.

"A two _bed_ suite?" Massie asked calmly.

"Yes? Is there a problem with that, Miss Block?"

"I believe I booked a two bedroom suite." Massie spoke through gritted teeth. How annoying.

"Well…" The girl bit her lip, "I'm sorry, but there is nothing we can do to correct the mistake, Ma'am. We don't have any multi-suites available… see, there's a large car show this wee-"

"It's fine. Two queen beds, right?"

"A king and a queen is what we have you reserved under."

"Then, we'll make it work." Massie sighed. She accepted the three gray keys, and started off towards the right of the open-air lobby, leading the two girls onto an outdoor wood walkway. Soon, the girls neared the early bungalows, passing six before they reached room seven.

Massie stepped forward to open the room, right as Claire muffled another sob and lunged forward into the circular hut, slamming her head against the door.

Over the sounds of Alicia's muffled hysterical laughter, Massie tried to stay calm.

"Kuh-laire. Chill." She spat, taking her time to unlock the entry. When the door gave way, Alicia gasped. Stretching before them was a nearly transparent room, letting in light from all directions.

"One-way mirrored walls? Nice." Massie murmured to herself, absent-mindedly brushing her fingers along the state-of-the-art kitchen in the corner. She spun around, searching for her luggage, and found it stacked with Alicia's by double-doors Massie assumed was a closet. Stepping down a foot into the somewhat separated bedroom, Massie oohed with delight. Below her, random sea-life skedaddled away from her feet, and she marveled at the candy-colored crabs and the little seabirds. In front of her, two beds semi-faced each other, pressed up against the rounded wall. Massie immediately put her hobo onto the bigger one, claiming it for her and Alicia, daresay Claire get any ideas.

A smashing sound made Massie whip her head around quickly, only to see Alicia backing away from the bathroom. Inside, Claire's sobs were starting again.

"Gawd. I go in there for one second." Alicia sighed. "Has she forgotten that we're more alpha than her?"

"I guess." Massie exhaled.

"So? What do we do now?"

"We go to the beach, of course."

* * *

**Sorry for this... had to happen! Did you guys expect a waterpark chapter? Sorry! The votes were pretty divided, so I split that part off and I think I'm rewriting it. Ha, so sorry for the shortie, the next one may be longer. **

**Loosely, who should Cam end up wanting at the end of this book... Nikki or Claire? Remember, there will be a sequel. **

**-sp**


	19. dix-neuf

**This is a 5 or so 200-word POV's chapter. It's a choppy one, so beware! **

**Warning, Dylosh and Krissington.**

* * *

19.

Sydney, Australia

En route to Aquavalics Waterpark

December 11th, 10:37 AM

Kristen checked out Derrick's jawline for the umpteenth time. It was slightly rounded, and slightly stubby, and Kristen just wanted to touch it for some reason. She shook her head of the random thought and turned back to her phone.

**Kristen: Hey!**

She had sent the message to Massie ten minutes ago. If Massie responded within three minutes, Kristen thought, it was a sign Massie still cared and Kristen _should _stop doing whatever this was with Derrick. A millisecond later, a second line of text appeared under the message.

**READ 12/11, 10:36 AM**

Kristen waited for the tell-tail ellipsis on Massie's side of the screen to show she was typing back, but one didn't appear. Kristen shut down her phone in frustration, and, as an afterthought, leaned her head against Derrick's shoulder. Immediately, instinctively, his hand draped around her shoulder and she smiled from a place deep within her. _Payback's a bitch, right Massie?_

* * *

A seat behind them, Nikki watched in amusement as Kristen and Derrick snuggled. Suddenly, she remembered a topic of IM conversation between her and Cam, and confusion overtook her amusement.

"Cam." She said softly. "Isn't Derrick with Massie?"

"Yeah." Cam responded, electrifying Nikki with full on glare from his green and his blue eye.

"Then…" she gestured in front of her.

"Don't mind Derr, he got jealous of me, they left… bam!"

"Jealous?"

"Of us." Cam finished. "You know, the… uhm… he wanted some…" Nikki giggled at the uncomfortable look on his face.

"Sex?" She whispered, making his face turn bright red. When he didn't respond, Nikki smiled, and then as an afterthought, grabbed her phone and snapped a candid of the Kristen and Derrick action. _You never know, could be useful someday._

* * *

"Mass, look!" Alicia spat from the corner of her mouth, turning ever so slightly so she could look up the beach.

"What?" Massie's eyes remained closed. No matter what Glamour magazine said, sunglasses caused terrible tan lines, and she would take wrinkles when she was like… sixty over ugly pale-rimmed eyes. Just then, Massie's phone dinged with a new message.

**Kristen: Hey!**

Massie ignored the message, instead turning to more pressing matters; namely the hawt with a capitol H boys sauntering their way over to Alicia. Massie quickly scooted onto Alicia's towel, so they'd both get equal face-time.

"Why, Hello there." The brunette boy drawled, stopping before his flaxen-haired friend could dash by.

"Hi." Massie squeaked. _Brilliant._

"I'm Nathanial, and this is Caiden." Nathanial continued, "You can call me Nate."

"Hi Caiden," Alicia batted her eyelashes, obviously trying to mark her territory. Massie was fine with that. She agreed Caiden was a little bit better looking, but the terrible I-just-sucked-on-a-lemon face was unacceptable. Besides, Nate's grin was too cute, and what girl didn't value confidence? Apparently, Alicia.

"Hey." Massie looked straight at Nate, matching her amber gaze with his electric navy one.

"Hey." Caiden murmured, looking at the sand beneath his calloused feet. At the same time, Alicia and Massie noticed his greasy hair.

"Ew. I take it back!" Alicia murmured, a pro at not moving her lips.

"Too late." Massie giggled.

"Don't mind him," Nate smiled broadly, not picking up on their secret conversation. "His girlfriend of a year just broke up with him."

"Oh really?" Massie's ears perked up. "That sounds so familiar."

Nate's brows knitted with confusion.

"We have a friend whose boyfriend…" Alicia started, eager to fill in the blank.

"Shh," Massie murmured, suddenly deciding they should hold off on telling Caiden about Claire at least until they got her on the right track. Which could take a while.

* * *

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet?" Dylan, Josh and Derrick chorused, driving Kristen and the driver closer to psychosis with every phrase. Soon, the thirty or forty year old man at the wheel gave up and shouted back.

"Five minutes, you starkers! Now shut your gobs!" He called out in a hoarse Australian accent.

"What he said." Kristen moaned, resting her forehead against Derrick's balled up sweatshirt. She was regretting her choice of tight denim shorts, as her toes were tingling with lack of blood flow.

"Aw, Kris, come on!" Derrick leaned closer towards her, enveloping her in spicy sandalwood cologne. Kristen immediately felt the tingles start to spread, to her fingertips, to the tips of her hair strands. Instinctively, she leaned closer to him, and just before she touches down, Josh yells something from behind them.

"There it is!"

Kristen turned away from Derrick's lips, somehow knowing that the moment was to be stored for later. Not in a car where anyone could be a spy to the alpha.

_Too late, honey… too late._

* * *

Dylan dashed to the front of the line, eagerly confirming the party of six and receiving the wristbands and three cabana keys. She whipped around, only to knock into Josh's tall frame.

"God, Dylan, slow down, will you?" Josh smiled brilliantly, creeping closer to her and taking two of the keys from her. "That can be ours." He gestured to the key in Dylan's hand. Her heartbeat sped up.

"Uh...uh... sure." A dark red blush bloomed on her cheeks. She had assumed it would be her and Kristen in the cabana. "That'll be fun."

"With me, you'll always have fun." Josh winked, and headed off to distribute the remaining wristbands and keys to the other couples.

Dylan knew this was probably only because Alicia was gone, but who was she to stop it? She had never gotten anywhere (not even a peck) with a boy, and maybe... today could be the day.

Suddenly eager to show off, Dylan ran after him, and pogo'd off his shoulders, landing beside him. He chuckled, met her eyes, and in a sudden swoop, swung her off her feet. Dylan's face felt inflamed, she was sure that Josh wouldn't be able to manage her one-hundred-twenty pound frame. Surprisingly he didn't even tremble as he carried her through the gates.

Dylan felt like Cinderella. Finally with a prince of her own.

Who cares if said prince belonged to her beta? Said beta wasn't in town. Neither was the alpha. And that meant, no rules. 

* * *

**Alright! Sorry for the somewhat rushed (short) chapter, I had a different chapter written, but it needed a transition chapter or two.**

**Do you like Dylosh, Niam (nikki cam) or Krissington the best? Which do you want to see developed the most?**

**-sp**


	20. vingt

**20.**

**Cains, Australia**

**Kea Resort, outside the bungalow**

**December 11th, 11:00 AM**

"Do we have to?"

Massie answered the pathetic question with a glare. Alicia shrank back, and muttered a few hardly apologetic words, which Massie chose to ignore in the spirit of time. Nate and Caiden might still be on the beach, waiting for them to come back, and every second Massie spent checking on Claire was one she could have been spending with Nate.

The absence of bungalow-racking screeches and cries shocked the girls into silence. Massie twisted the old-style black key sluggishly, ready for the clamor to start up again. When it didn't, both she and Alicia nervously turned their heads to the left. In the particularly charged moment, they both couldn't help but shriek when they saw Claire sitting peacefully on one of the beds. Her wide cerulean eyes looked on unblinking, while her fingers sat locked on her knees.

"Hi." Claire's mouth curled up into a grin, which shocked the two girls further. Alicia grasped Massie's shoulder with her long icy fingers.

"Hey…" Massie treaded, glancing around the room before shaking Alicia off.

After a few moments of silence, Claire's smile widened.

"Guess what?"

This time, Alicia answered, "What, Kuh-laire?"

"I'm ready." Two words meaning more than anything Claire had ever aforesaid to Massie. She needn't even say an explanation. Both of the girls standing before her understood completely.

"Perfect." Massie said without a second thought. "We start tonight."

* * *

_Fifteen Minutes Prior…._

**Cains, Australia**

**Kea Resort, bungalow**

**December 11th, 10:50 AM**

Claire looked deep into the water of the toilet bowl, retching again. She had cried herself to throwing up. A new low.

Still, nothing came up. Claire wasn't surprised. She hadn't eaten the entire day, at least she didn't think so. Truthfully, when she tried to conjure up a recollection of the day's events, she only could bring up bits and pieces. Something with gummy bears. Alicia's annoyed tones. Waking up at six AM.

Other moments in other days, she could remember perfectly. The evil glint in naked Nikki's eyes as Claire stared on in shock. The day in the spa when Alicia gave a now-apparent foreshadowing hint. Cam's behavior before the trip. How could she have missed all the signs?

The random IM sign-offs. the lack of attention.

The lack of lip-kisses. the enormous amount of attention he paid to his phone.

The recent lack of invites over to his house, the all-around annoyance towards Claire.

And more. Looking back, Claire couldn't think of a single way she could have been stupider. And that did a strange thing to her sadness. It altered it, twisting the tears' meaning, the self-pity into self-anger. Sadness changed into fury. At herself, at Cam, _especially _at Nikki.

With a strangled screech, Claire brought her knuckles down on the edge of the toilet, effectively opening a line of red cuts along the bone. She stared at the flow of red, focusing and un-focusing her eyes. The blood was almost entrancing, and she stretched her hand out flat. That's when she saw them. The bloody, ripped up cuticles. Ten minutes ago, it wouldn't have given her the slightest pause. Now it gave her an uncertain feeling in her stomach, the rumbling of a new emotion, something dangerous.

With a spastic hand, Claire pushed herself to her feet. Shutting her eyes instinctively, she crept closer to the mirrored cabinets. When she was a yard away, her foot stumbled, and her eyes flew open. There stood her reflection.

A blonde girl. A doughy blonde girl with bad skin. A doughy greasy-blonde haired girl with bad skin. A petite girl. A once-petite girl. A once-petite girl who once had a boyfriend. A blue-eyed girl. A (dull) blue-eyed girl with horrendous split ends reaching up at least two inches and a furry blonde unibrow.

She was a mess, in short. A snot-filled, hairy, bloody mess. Her lips felt like the Sahara, and refused to wet when she moved her tongue across them. She was severely dehydrated. Cautiously, she lifted a hand to her face. It was rough and patchy, yet her fingers slid off damp with oil. Sniffing with the last of her tears, Claire smelled severe BO, and without even checking, she knew it was herself.

All of this had yet to be completely comprehended. All Claire handle at the moment were deep breaths. One by one, she started creating rational thoughts. She decided to start with the easiest ones.

_My name is Claire Stacey Lyons. I am thirteen years old. I have one ex-boyfriend, Cam Fisher. He was dating Nikki Dalton. More than dating, actually. He loved her. He broke up with me because I'm a mess. And I'm going to fix it. I'm going to fix myself._

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**Aquavalics Waterpark, Cabana**

**December 11th, 11:11 AM**

"Here we go." Naida, the cabana manager at Aquavalics, hummed. "Cabanas numbers three, four and five."

"Great, thanks!" Derrick smiled with his words, gazing at Naida with puppy-dog eyes. When she noticed, she smirked back at him. Kristen pretended not to notice, instead silently taking her spot in the cabana. Would it hurt Derrick to only pay attention to her? Come on! Boys didn't have that low of attention spans.

"Oh my gosh! This is so exciting!" Dylan tore through the connecting door between the two cabanas, leaving the zipper hanging by a thread.

"Dylllllan." Kristen huffed.

"God, you sound exactly like Massie." She stepped back, a little miffed. In a second, the look was gone, and she was happy Dylan again. "So, want to go on a ride or what?"

"Maybe in a little." Kristen murmured, diverting all of her attention to her phone. No new messages.

"Right. Thought that would be your answer." Dylan's voice sounded obviously hurt, but Kristen pretended not to notice. She had a revenge war to fight. And pity did no alpha good.

* * *

**Wow. That was terrible. Sorry. I kept re-writing this, and this was the "best." It's hardly good though. **

**So Claire's made a breakthrough! Will this last? Will Kristen continue to be bitchy? Time will only tell! **

**What do you think about this chapter, besides it's apparent horrible-ness? What do you think's going to happen? **

**Happy writing! **

**splendeur**


	21. vingt et un

**I hope this is a better chapter! **

**Reviews make me happy :D**

* * *

21.

Sydney, Australia

Aquavalics Waterpark

December 11th, 11:50 AM

"Dyl! Where do you want to go first?" The sound of Josh's voice next to her ear made Dylan jump. She had dragged her chaise lounge out into the sun, and was laying flat against the navy fabric, palms tilted upward. She desired sun desperately; after all she was almost as pale as a sheet of paper. Not acceptable.

"Stop it! You scared me!" Dylan placed a palm over her heart, laughing. It was just the way that Josh's hair flopped over his russet eyes that made her disregard exactly what she was going to say. Desperate to retain some dignity, she smacked him. "Besides, I'm tanning! You can go by yourself."

"Nah, Cam's coming." Josh pouted.

"Don't forget me." The hairs on the back of Dylan's neck instinctively stood up. It was the rusty, low sexy voice that Dylan had grown so attuned to on the drive.

"Never would." Dylan's hackles rose at the sound of Josh's voice. Without thinking, she jumped to her feet, disrobing from her towel.

"Easy, sunshine." Cam put his hands up jokingly. Nikki laughed out loud, causing Dylan's face to redden.

"I'm actually not a ginger." Dylan said in a hurt tone.

"I think he means your skin." Nikki jumped in, cheerfully pointing at her. "It looks a little… burned."

When she looked down, Dylan gasped. _After only 15 minutes?_

"Um, thanks." Dylan blushed. "I'll put on some sunscreen, I guess."

"I suggest thirty." Nikki advised, while shading her eyes. "I know this sun, it's brutal."

"Thanks." Dylan genuinely smiled. This didn't seem like the witchy girl everyone else made her out to be. She was actually, okay… for the moment, at least.

"So what section do you guys want to head over to?" Cam bounced on his heels, obviously excited. Aquavalics was rumored to be one of the best waterparks in the world, ride-wise. Thanks to the handy four square foot foldable map, every ride was listed in tiny font, totaling over fifty total. Four sections of the park folded out like spokes, with the gigantic lazy river dividing them. The cabanas, along with the normal non-VIP seating/lockers were in the first section, including the entrance and the kid-ridden wave pool. To the left, Dylan could see all of the extreme rides, the one's that rose two or three hundred feet into the air, including a couple water-coasters and a diving simulator. This was appealing to the guys, but not the girls. They wanted to definitely work their way up before. The wedge straight ahead held most of the fun rides; mainly tubing and crazy multi-person rides. Adjacent to that seemed like a mix of all of the sections, with all of the newer rides.

With a quick conversation, they all decided to go to the new rides first and then work their way back around. Kristen and Derrick seemed to want to stay at the cabana, and then maybe go to the rides later. It went without mention that everyone knew what he or she actually wanted.

To everyone's delight, Dylan happened to discover a set of keys at the gate of their cabana section. When they pushed past the gate, they discovered a fleet of green and black mini golf-carts. Josh immediately called driver.

"Aren't these things supposed to be 18 and over?" Dylan chided, as she slid into the passenger seat. Nikki and Cam slid into the bench seat behind them.

"Who knows, with all of these crazy laws they have here!" Josh laughed, and then slammed his foot onto the gas. With only a minor shriek from Dylan and Nikki, they were off. Granted, the golf cart was much faster than the tram, or walking, and so they easily sped past crowds. Toddlers were pulled out of harm's way, along with random purses and small dogs. Random teenagers stared as the golf-cart darted by, their eyes filled with jealousy.

Narrowly avoiding a crash with another parked golf-cart, Josh skidded into a remarkable parallel park near the sign of a ride.

"Look fun?" He asked, hands on the keys. Everyone agreed whole-heartedly, as they were too afraid to stay in the cart for another ride, even for only a couple of minutes.

"Slow down a little next time, Josh?" Nikki catapulted out of the back as soon as the cart hummed to a stop. "You almost killed us!"

"Yeah, right." Josh stuck out his tongue. With a humph, he started speed walking towards the ride, Cam fast on his heels. Dylan took her time unbuckling herself and re-buckling her shoes, sure that she had been left behind. When she looked up, and found Nikki hanging back, she smiled uncertainly, a warm feeling blooming in her chest.

"You coming?"

"Definitely." And with that, Dylan hurried over to Nikki, and they started hiking towards the ride, giggling about Josh's erratic driving. It was definitely going to be a entertaining day.

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**Aquavalics Waterpark, The Cabana**

**December 11th, 12:01 PM**

"Are you sure you don't want to go on a ride?" Kristen paused, the magazine page abandoned. "I'll go with you, I bet we can catch up with them before they get in line."

"No. I think I have something else in mind." Derrick's tone made Kristen look up in curiosity, seeing him stepping slowly towards him.

"Oka-" That's how far she got, before Derrick took one last striding step and landed his wet lips on hers. Slowly, Kristen leaned down, until her back was against the fabric of the seat. Not one to be shy, Derrick followed her, never once breaking the lip hold. He straddled her legs, deepening the kiss by placing each of his palms on her face. After about ten seconds, his wet tongue, and Kristen met it with hers. She was sure her face was reddening with happiness, since this was exactly what she wanted. She always had coveted Derrington, even after he got with Massie. This was her chance to convince him that she was better than Massie. She was not a prude. She was the right choice.

The kiss got more and more serious, as more and more neck came into play, and Derrick flattened himself onto Kristen, arching his back. She had no problem with him taking control; she actually loved it. She just had to play along, following his lead. Soon after that, Derrick's fingers began exploring Kristen's body, stroking her sides and eventually her thighs.

Kristen was so into it, she almost didn't notice when he unbuttoned her shorts and started to shimmy them down. She panicked for about ten seconds, trying to figure out what to do, and by then, the shorts were off completely. She only re-entered her body when he started to grab her thighs possessively.

Mumbling, Kristen tried hard to push him off of her, "Derr. Derrick!"

"Mmm?" Derrick continued with what he was doing, his hands slowly working their way up.

"Stop!" Kristen murmured, but it was muffled by the kiss, and even if he did hear her, he didn't stop. Finally, she freed her hands from her stomach, and pushed him off of her.

"What?" Derrick asked, brushing his lips with the back of his hand. "Too fast?"

"No…" Kristen lied, searching for a way out. "I'm just afraid people will see."

"So later?" A glint appeared in Derrick's eye, and Kristen began to wonder if he was just using her. "At the hotel?"

"Yeah…" Kristen reluctantly agreed, opening her mouth to say that she wasn't ready for anything more. She wasn't slutty Nikki, she was athletic, smart, wholesome Kristen. But Derrick smothered her with another kiss, this one not aggressive, more loving. A thank-you kiss in exchange for a promise that Kristen in no way would be able to keep.

* * *

***covers face* don't come after me! I promise this will not be a krissington fic, believe me, I value my life too much for that :) **

**Do you feel bad for Kristen, or did she have this coming? **

**Would you rather have a 1/2 massie, alicia, claire chapter, 1/2 waterpark chapter next; or a full MCA chapter, or another full waterpark chapter? Let me know! **

**-sp**


	22. vingt-deux

**psst... hey guess what? look up **

**:D**

**we reached 300 :) thank you all so much**

* * *

**22.**

**Cains, Australia**

**Kea Resort, Veranda Restaurant**

**December 11th, 1:00 PM**

"I'm just so sad, you know?" Claire munched on the baguette as she spoke, tears threatening to spill off of her eyelids. "He's so…"

"This is going nowhere." Alicia hissed in Massie's ear. "She's acting like we're Dr. Phil." Massie snorted, and then coughed into her napkin to hide the sound.

"Just let her work it out?" Massie murmured. She honestly didn't know how to proceed. Would suggesting a diet and maybe some new clothes right of the bat seem obnoxious? At least Claire was in public, and not completely a snotty wreck. Any step back from this would be a serious problem.

"We need to let her know what we're going to do." Alicia bounced on her chair, excited with the plan already.

"What, with Caiden?" Massie breathed back. "We can't let her know about that, not yet."

"No, the diet and other stuff."

The alpha tilted her head, considering the offer, and then nodded. Better now than later.

"Um Claire?" she broke into the blonde's rant about how Nikki wasn't even really that pretty. "We have something to tell you about."

"Mmm?" Claire took a giant bite out of her baguette.

"Maybe the room would be better." Alicia hinted. "More private."

"You have a plan?!" Claire's voice lit up, suddenly ecstatic.

"Yup. We do."

"Will it help me get Cam back?" Claire stood up immediately. "Can we completely ruin Nikki's reputation?"

"Of course; later." Massie cossetted, trying to ease the girl into the plan. "First, we're working on you."

"On me?" Claire's fuzzy brows knitted even further. _God, this girl needs an eyebrow wax,_ Massie thought, but shook her head. That would happen soon enough, if they could just get Claire to agree…

"Let us explain in the room." Alicia pulled out her wallet and carelessly threw several twenties on the table, more than enough for their drinks and the bread.

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**Aquavalics Waterpark, Slide 'n Shriek ride**

**December 11th, 1:11 PM**

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" Dylan shrieked, as her and Nikki's tube hit the peak of the ride, holding a couple seconds before they tumbled to the ground. Ahead of them, Dylan could see Josh and Cam with their hands up, thoroughly enjoying the ride. Dylan and Nikki had their arms clutched around each other, screaming with pure fright as the blue tube came _that _close to slipping over the side. Finally, climbing the final hill Dylan stopped screaming. She was far too afraid. This wasn't the tallest hill, but it was the steepest. What if she fell out of the tube?

"Why the hell did I get on this ride?" Nikki asked, sounding utterly confused. Dylan snickered, and was about to respond when the bottom of the ride seemed to drop out from underneath them. A final eardrum bursting shriek later, Dylan & Nikki's tube was slowly floating its way back to the start.

Dylan gratefully grabbed Josh's arm when he offered it to her, and jumped out of the tube, legs shaking.

"Sorry for all the screaming." She smiled sheepishly.

"Hey, they don't call the ride Slide n' Shriek for nothing." Cam broke in, toting a paper-white Nikki on his arm. "Look! Let's go on that one!"

Dylan looked at where he was pointing in apprehension. Four orange and red tubes seemed to stretch upward for eons. At the very top, Dylan could barely make out little tiny ant people waiting in line. Let alone the ride, the stairs would be a nightmare.

"Four lanes, perfect! We can race each other!" Josh beamed.

Nikki glanced at Dylan, the same time Dylan glanced at Nikki.

"No!" They both said decisively, erupting into breathless giggles afterward.

"Well, come watch, at least." Josh smiled, not one to get his feelings hurt easily.

"It'll take you an hour to get through that line."

"Then go in the lazy river or something. We can text you when we're going to go." Josh waved his waterproof case.

"Kay." Dylan agreed quickly. The laidback lazy river sounded perfect.

* * *

**Cains, Australia**

**Kea Resort, Bungalow**

**December 11th, 1:08 PM**

"What we're thinking is this." Massie started, and then faltered. How exactly did you tell a girl that she should go on a diet? It would be mildly offending at best.

"Yeah?" Claire bounced on the bed. She clutched at a candy bar wrapper, giggling. Sugar highs always felt the best. It was almost like alcohol in the aftermaths, not that Claire knew about that, but still; you got the blurry forgetful haze without any of the actual side effects.

"We're thinking…" Massie repeated, glaring at Alicia to help her. The Spanish girl looked down towards the glass floors, pretending not to notice the look. Massie's cheeks reddened. Never had Alicia abandoned her like this.

"WethinkyoushouldgoonadietClaire." Massie breathed, clamping her lips together after she finished.

"What? A diet?" Claire's brows furrowed. "Is that what you said?"

Massie nodded guiltily, her eyes searching the walls for something to focus on. Nothing. Maybe if she made them clear? A click later, Massie could see people out on the beach, seemingly enjoying themselves. She would kill to be out there now, with Nate by her side, tanning. But no, of course she couldn't. Realizing she had been staring off into space for a while, Massie brought her amber eyes back down to meet Claire's blue ones.

"Okay." Claire spoke, but Massie only stared at her lips uncomprehendingly. "Okay?" She added, this time with a questioning lilt at the end. Massie's mind refused to cooperate. Claire. Not. Upset. With. Diet. Suggestion? What? If it had been Massie, she would have insulted herself and Alicia to tears by now for even suggesting it.

"Perfect!" Alicia beat Massie to responding, clasping her hands together with a pleased grin.

"Yeah, great." Massie murmured, still harboring the alternate-universe-like feeling. "Great." This did not seem like Claire Lyons. She had obviously been forced to grow too fast after the Nikki & Cam debacle.

And Massie had not the slightest idea if it was a good thing, or bad.

* * *

**So, what did you think? We're nearing the end of this one, but as you can tell by all of the loose ends, we're having a sequel! Yay! **

**I'm guessing about 30 chapters is where this one is going to end up, but don't quote me! **

**What's on deck for next time? Sydney crew (Kristen, Dylan, Nikki, Josh, Derrick & Cam), or Cains crew (Massie, Alicia, Claire, Nate, Caiden)? Or half and half? **

**sp**


	23. vingt-trois

***edited by the wonderful ailes du neige***

**23.**

**Sydney, Australia**

**Aquavalics Waterpark**

**December 11th, 6:00 PM**

"I don't want to leave." Dylan whined, an arm carelessly thrown across an equally sad Nikki. Kristen watched with narrow eyes, her forehead creasing in confusion. Since when were Nikki & Dylan best friends? Dylan was supposed to be by Kristen's side, at least while Massie and Alicia were gone.

"Dyl." Kristen snapped her fingers in the air, the way she had seen Massie do countless times before. "Stay back."

Dylan obediently removed her arm from Nikki's shoulder, but leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Nikki giggle-nodded, and sped up to meet Cam.

"What?" Dylan sighed, once they were alone. When Kristen didn't immediately respond, she flipped the end of her hair up and began picking through to find split-ends.

"Did you serio-" Kristen smacked Dylan's hand away from her hair. The red-head would have never done that in Massie's presence, so why was she doing it in Kristen's? "Ugh, never mind. _What _is up, is that you are suddenly BFFs with Nikki. What happened to us? Or our plan?"

Dylan sighed at this, wringing her palms together. "Kristen, could you stop acting like Massie for once? You aren't her."

"Obviously," Kristen spat, already incredibly angry that she even brought that up. "I'm much nicer, and I wouldn't ditch my friends! Which, actually," she thought for a moment, "is something you two have in common."

"What, because I wouldn't walk twenty feet to the golf cart with you?" Dylan said calmly. "From what I saw, it seemed like you and Derrick weren't lonely, and besides, you need to cool down. Seriously, you're taking this Massie leaving thing way too hard. Funny, it seemed like you have Derrick right now be_cause_ of the trip."

"Well, yeah," Kristen blushed, suddenly flustered. "But that doesn't give her the right to just ditch us. Like you did to me."

"I did not ditch you!" Dylan hissed, stopping in her tracks. "I spent, like, the entire day with Nikki because _you_ were too busy getting it on with Derrick to come out! Figures that I wanted to walk with her, right?"

"What about the plan? The one where you agreed to help me take her down so Massie would actually pay attention to us? Have you forgotten? Do you have short-term memory loss?" The blonde countered, snide clear in her tone.

"Do you honestly believe I'm jeopardizing the plan? I'm only helping it!"

"Really, how?"

"Well, don't you think it might be easier to ruin her if we had her trust?"

"Maybe." Kristen's cheeks burned. Of course Dylan hadn't abandoned her!

"Well, then, it looks like everything's resolved." Dylan sped up again, Kristen barely catching an odd glint in her eye as she glanced at her.

"Wait!" Kristen suddenly remembered. "What did you tell her? When she _laughed_?"

But Dylan kept speed walking, never once looking back.

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**Aquavalics Waterpark Parking Lot**

**December 11th, 6:05 PM**

"So, you got K, did you?" Cam grinned, punching Derrick in the arm. "How was it?"

"No." Derrick said slowly. "She didn't want it."

"Not today, little boy, huh?" Josh snickered, punching Derrick in the thigh. "She's too good for you?"

"No. Too public."

"Ah, I can see that. Although it would be totally awesome to do it in public." Cam snickered, running one hand through his still semi-wet black hair.

"Gross." Josh hit Cam playfully in the chest. "You and your weird thoughts. Keep them to yourself."

"Maybe I will, and maybe I won't." Cam yawned. "So do you guys actually like them, or are they just stand-ins?"

"Nobody matches up to Mass," Derrick said quickly, the other boys nodding in agreement. "But Kristen is pretty hot, you know?"

"I actually like Dylan a lot better," Josh mused, and then blushed when he noticed both of the boys gawking at him like he was crazy.

"You like Dylan more than Alicia?" Cam asked slowly.

"Actually yeah. Alicia looks so much like me it's starting to freak me out. And besides, I've always thought red hair is cute."

"Kay." Derrick & Cam spoke in unison, both obviously still confused.

"And what about you Cam?" Josh mumbled. "Like Nikki more than Claire?"

Cam's eyes met Derrick's, and they both busted into hysterics. After a moment, Josh joined in.

"Of _course_ I like Nikki more. Why wouldn't I?"

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**En route back to hotel**

**December 11th, 6:10 PM**

"So, Nikki, where do you like to shop?" Kristen watched from behind, her glare filled with contempt. Dylan was obviously rubbing this new-found friendship in Kristen's face, even though she claimed it to be "for the plan".

"Well, I mainly ship all of my clothes over from the US." Nikki responded. "The shipping charges can be insane, but still, I refuse to shop at Target."

"She would get along well with Massie." Derrick's voice rumbled from above Kristen's face. She was curled up in his lap, trying desperately to calm down. About the Nikki thing, about what she promised Derrick; both were considerable and freak-out worthy. She wasn't ready for Derrick, and she still needed Dylan. But no, of course Dylan had grabbed a seat by Nikki, leaving Josh and Cam to sit together in the back. Kristen and Derrick were sandwiched between the two.

"I guess." Kristen said softly, burrowing her face deep into his shirt.

"So, what are you doing tonight, Nikki?" Dylan inquired loudly, turning her face slightly to the backseat.

"I'll probably get home, touch base with Gigi & Cam, and then decide what to do from there… why?"

"Want to sleep over at our place?"

Kristen recoiled from Derrick's lap, her mouth wide in a gasp. The redhead turned her head gently to the back, and smirked.

"Sure!" Nikki smiled. "I just have to get my stuff from, you know, my place beforehand."

"Absolut-" Dylan was cut off by Derrick.

"We can have it at our room." He said quickly. "We have enough space for everyone." Almost immediately Kristen's stomach started turning. A few moments after Derrick finished talking, he nudged her thigh and gave her a smile.

"It'll be perfect, Kris." He proposed smoothly. "Privacy."

"Yeah." Kristen gulped. "Privacy." Without thinking, she lurched forward and poked the back of Dylan's neck.

"What the hell was that for?" Kristen whisper-yelled.

"The plan, of course." Dylan lied effortlessly, ill intent clear in her voice. "Silly, Kristen. When are you ever going to learn?"

* * *

**Another chapter! So anyways, thanks for all the great reviews!**

**Most of you actually wanted a full MCA chapter, but an MCA chapter will be coming soon, if not next. **

**So who's the worst (acting) in this group? Who's the least to blame? **

**sp**


	24. vingt-quatre

**24.**

**Sydney, Australia**

**Van, Outside the Dalton Estate**

**December 11th, 7:12 PM**

"Hey bae, can't wait for tonight." Nikki cooed as she slid into the van, ducking her head. "It's going to be great."

While she was in her house, people had shifted in the car. Now, Dylan and Josh were commanding the front seat, with a pissed-off Kristen and a zoned-out Derrick behind them. This left the back seat to Cam and Nikki. _Perfect. _

"Yeah." Cam responded simply, and Nikki smile-tapped Dylan's shoulder as she passed, earning a glare from Kristen and a grin from the redhead.

"So, um, how's life?" Cam's voice faltered. To cover up the unexpected misstep, he coughed awkwardly. It was obviously fake, one of those discreet breathless repeated ones, but Nikki decided to ignore it.

"Well, nothing much has changed since I got out of the car fifteen minutes ago… but I'm good, I guess, how about you?"

"Good, good." No other words were exchanged, and Nikki couldn't help wondering what was going on. Had they hosted a secret we-don't-like-Nikki-Dalton powwow when she was inside?

To busy her hands, Nikki lifted her silver leather east-west Kate Spade overnighter. Inside, she had packed more than enough clothes and changes of clothes, and of course: the essentials. Her toothbrush and toothpaste, along with other cosmetic-oriented objects were contained in her knit metal Alexander McQueen bag, while other certain necessities (incase Cam forgot) were located in a much less fashionable Target Australia clutch pocket. Her clothes were folded neatly; a swimsuit just in case, two next-day options, her James Perse silk wide-leg grape-colored silk pajamas, three pairs of La Perla underwear (just in case), and (of course) her trusty black lingerie bottoms and a new black corset top. For Cam, of course. Nikki didn't plan on modeling it until the actual "sleep" (or not) part of the sleepover came along.

"So, what are we doing?" She breached the subject, leaning past Kristen's seat so the nasty blonde wouldn't answer.

"What do you think, _Nicole_?" No luck. "A movie, maybe, and then dinner."

"My name isn't Nicole."

"Okay, that's fine _Nichelle_."

"My name isn't Michelle!"

"Nee-shell, idiot-" Kristen was cut off by Josh.

"I don't even think Nichelle is a name, Kris."

"Whate-" This time, it was Derrick who cut her off.

"Yeah, Nik, what is your full name?" He requested good-naturedly, Kristen tucked under his arm.

"Monica."

"And how exactly do you get Nikki from that?"

Nikki rolled her eyes at the back of Kristen's head.

"MoNICa, Kris." Dylan scoffed, giving the blonde a look. "It's phonetic."

"Duh."

"Did you just-" Nikki stopped herself. She didn't need to battle with Kristen right now. She needed people on her side, and if she could possibly make Kristen get over herself, that would be three against three in the PC. And who knew where Alicia's loyalties laid? She could totally hate Claire, or something, and then jump ship as soon as she saw another opportunity.

"Whatever." Nikki replied with a dainty lilt in her tone. "If you want, you can call me Monica."

"Pass."

"Now, Kristen. Don't be rude." Dylan simpered, earning an enraged glare from the blonde and a mollified smirk from Nikki.

* * *

**KRISTEN: wtf was that for**

**DYLAN: why, for the plan of course**

**KRISTEN: give up the crap dyl.**

**DYLAN: what?**

**KRISTEN: you know exactly what I'm talking about**

**DYLAN: actually, I don't**

* * *

**Cains, Australia**

**Kea Resort, Terra Via restaurant**

**December 11th, 8:12 PM**

"So, what's up with you?" The boy sitting across from Claire uttered, adverting his eyes from her own. Claire's blonde brows furrowed. _What's up with you?_ Was there something stuck in her teeth or something?

"I mean, um, how are you? Sorry, uh, I'm not too great at this dating stuff." Caiden blushed, Claire's lips blooming uncertainly into a half-smile. "I mean, with Nikki and I, everything was pretty… um… silent."

"There he goes, talking about his ex again." At another table, Nate grimaced, his head in his hands. "He honestly will not shut up about her. Nikki this, Nikki that."

"What did you just say?" Alicia froze, her foot moving gently, as if to kick Massie. The beta swore under her breath when she remembered Massie's seat was empty, the alpha having gone back to the room for lip-gloss.

"There he goes, talking about his ex again?"

"No, the second part." Alicia insisted, her hand curling into a fist around a fork. "About _Nikki_?" She coughed.

"Yeah, Nikki? Nikki Dalton? You know her?"

"No, well, kind-off, um, yeah." Alicia bit her tongue, and then forged forward. Who cared if Massie would probably yell at her? She couldn't back out now. "Well, we know her, kind-of, because she and Claire's ex, Cam Fisher, were secretly dating for like three years before he met Claire, but she was just a fill in for when he wasn't at camp with Nikki."

"Did you just say three years?" Nate gaped.

"I think they met when they were eleven, so yeah. He met Claire last October. So it's been around a year that he's been double-timing." She admitted, biting her lips. She couldn't decide if she had made the wrong decision. It had seemed like the right one, but had that just been the glint of Nate's emerald eyes luring her in? Assuring safety if she spilled her words?

"Well, Nikki and Caiden got together when they were twelve." Nate whispered slowly. "And they broke up a few weeks ago." He glanced around the restaurant, analyzing the nearest patrons, and their level of hearing before continuing. "Not to make this awkward or anything, but they went all the way."

"No."

"Yeah." Nate continued, on a roll now. "And Nikki posted something on FaceBook a few days ago... wait." He slid his iPhone out of his pocket, quickly typing and swiping before he got to a message. "Look."

**Nikki Dalton: (on Cameron Fisher's wall)**

**Babe, I love you. No matter what comes between us now, we have a bond that can't be broken. We've shared something so raw, so precious, so beautiful & fun. You're mine, and I'm yours. I can't wait to see you again ;) **

"Gag." Alicia quipped instinctively, and then brought her hand to her mouth. That was something she had never said to a boy. To her friend's maybe, in private, but in public (with a guy!) it was gauche. So ladylike and crush-worthy… _not_. Was all this time away from Josh making her soft? She scrunched her eyelids in fear of a reaction; excusing himself, perhaps, maybe he had "forgotten" a date. A date with a lovely, ladylike female; one who didn't speak so informally.

Instead, Nate chuckled. "I know. Caiden read between the lines and came up with the conclusion that they had sex."

"They did." Alicia blurted, and then smacked her palm over her carefully outlined cherry-red lips. Maybe it was something about Nate himself that was making her loose control of her tongue. And maybe since they were sitting so close, and because, for the first time since meeting him, Massie wasn't between them and-

"And what did you just confirm?" The murmur came from above Alicia's scalp, and made her blood run ice-cold. Alpha.

- across the room -

"Did you just say _Nikki_?" Claire screeched, bringing her hands down to the table with a thump. "Nilkki _Dalton_?"

* * *

**Yeah, this was not my best chapter. I have the whole ending mapped out, however, and later this week/this weekend I'll be completely writing the end so the only thing that I have to do is publish. **

**I know some of you are veterans who know the end of the story, so don't blurt it out, but what do you think's going to happen at the end of this story? Will Claire find love in Caiden, or is he just another one of Nikki's castaways? What's Kristen's plan? Is Dylan really siding with Nikki?**

**Thanks for all the amazing reviews. **

**sp**


	25. vingt-cinq

**5 more chaptersssssss! :)**

**And this is a loooooong chapter. For me, at least.**

**Sorry about the wait! I do have this story all figured out, so yay, right? More chapters very soon. **

**Now... read!**

25.

Sydney, Australia

The Girl's Suite

December 11th, 7:32 PM

"Take a deep breath." Kristen exhaled the words to herself gently, trying to keep her hands from shaking. She was in the midst of shaving her ankles, and an angry red scrape would not look good. Especially when… her and Derrick…

"Ugh!" Kristen cried, as her hand slipped and the blade gouged out a good chunk of skin. Blood immediately began to flow from the wound, as Kristen half-hopped, half-slipped towards the medicine cabinet to grab a Band-Aid. As soon as the cut was covered with clean tan fabric, Kristen exhaled. Derrick wouldn't mind. She would not be ridiculed. She would be okay.

Instinctively, Kristen reached for the premium container of mango-mint shampoo that the hotel imported from Brazil, but then pulled her hand back. Faintly, she remembered Massie saying something about Derrick being allergic to the smell of mangoes, and just to be on the safe side, she grabbed the safer hypoallergenic shea butter shampoo & conditioner. After a quick prayer to gawd that Derrick wouldn't get hives from faint traces of dairy (although she _had_ seen him eat ice-cream on several occasions), she poured a small iridescent puddle into her hand and raised it to her scalp.

After thoroughly saturated her hair with the glossing products, she slid out of the shower, moisturized to the point that her feet could never find an easy hold on the tile. Kristen caught sight of her messy hair in the mirror, she swore under her breath and wished for the umpteenth time that she could use the electric-current hair brushing and drying thing that was mentioned several times in The Hunger Games. It would make her life so much easier. But, no, of course Kristen had to use the old-fashioned comb and untangling spray method.

When she emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later (convinced that she had lost at least half of her blonde hair from the comb), she clutched at a towel to cover herself, finding that Dylan had stolen the last robe.

"Hey Dyl?" Kristen called. "What're you wearing?" It was a last resort, truly, asking Dylan-I'm-Nikki's-Best-Friend-Marvil for clothing advice, but Kristen needed people on her side. And if Dylan was pissed at Kristen, there was no telling what kind of hell she could bring upon her, mainly through secrets leaked to the alpha. Playing with your leader's boyfriend was a treacherous game, and if Kristen was to succeed, she couldn't have potential traitors within her front lines.

Granted, that meant she had to get rid of Nikki, fast. But, she'd deal with that when she had the opportunity.

"Come into the living room!" Dylan called.

Kristen padded into the living room uncertainly, seeing Dylan posing at the counter. Nikki stood a few feet behind her, looking apprehensive.

Dylan had on a faded yellow tie-front crop top with a white daisy on it, and a few inches of somewhat tanned stomach was exposed before the top of her gray and white pinstriped boxer shorts. Overtop she wore the missing robin-egg short fluffy robe, her flaming hair pulled into two perfect low pigtails. As Nikki cautiously moved to stand next to her, Kristen analyzed her outfit as well. It was nearly the same, except her crop-top was red and had a surfer ironed onto the front in black. Her boxer shorts were navy with little ducks, and the robe was cream. Her hair was braided into a fishtail.

"Nice." Kristen blushed. "Um, mind if I copy you?"

"Not at all." Nikki said, smiling gently. "We'd love to have a third." Kristen's brows furrowed slightly at this, but knitted their way out before detection. Perhaps Nikki wanted her as a friend. Maybe this could work in Kristen's favor.

"Help me pick out something?"

Together, the girls managed to find a pair of plaid boxer shorts and a white v-neck that could be converted into a crop top (with hair ties) in the depths of Kristen's suitcase. By a hurried search of Massie & Alicia's bathroom, they came up with a short sea foam green robe. Nikki offered to do Kristen's hair, to which the blonde agreed after a short deliberation. Her hair turned out to be loose, two braids weaving their way across her hairline and meeting in the back in a braid. It was classic surfer chic.

"Are we ready?" Kristen ventured, sliding her slick hands against her moisturized legs. The brief fun of finding an outfit had eclipsed the complete doom Kristen felt. She had promised to have sex with Derrick, something that she was nowhere near prepared for, not mentally, and definitely not physically. She wasn't Nikki Dalton, who did this all the time. She was Kristen Gregory, straight-A student, mother's daughter, and the conscience of the pretty committee.

"We're so ready." Dylan cried, giddy for all the wrong reasons. "Let's get over there."

Cains, Australia

The Bungalow

December 11th, 8:35 PM

"And for what reason did you do that?" Massie rested her head in her hands, sighing.

"Don't worry. I didn't actually freak out. We ended the date… nicely. He kissed me on the cheek."

"What are we in, the sixteenth century?" Alicia scoffed. "He was ahv-iously freaked out by your freak-out."

"Well, how would you have reacted if your date turned out to be the ex of your ex's now-girlfriend?"

"Not like that, that's for sure!" Alicia giggled, widening her eyes to show she was joking. She had experienced a wonderful night with Nate, even after Massie had come back. There was a spark between them, which even Massie couldn't compete with. And love made even Alicia softer towards the blonde misfit.

"Hey! I did not screw it up." Claire pouted, biting her already-puffy lips to keep from smiling. "In fact, he just texted me."

**Caiden: Are you going to go to the beach tomorrow?**

**Claire: In the afternoon, yeah… I'll be at a yoga retreat until eleven am**

**Caiden: I'll miss you ;)**

After a healthy round of shrieking and fanning her face, Claire finally settled on another text with Massie's help.

**Claire: I will too ;) Had a great time tonight, hope we can do it again**

"What's going to happen when we go back to Sydney?" Alicia suddenly sat up straight, fear shooting through her eyes. She had the sense to whisper-shout the sentence, but Claire still glanced up from typing.

"Um." Massie yawned. "Leesh, we need ice. Can you come get it with me? I do not want to walk out there alone."

"Yeah, of course." The latina rose to her feet gracefully, leaning over to grab the crystal sphere that served as the ice container. "God this is heavy."

Massie walked in silence until they got to about ten yards away from the bungalow.

"Are you crazy?" The alpha hissed suddenly, Alicia pressing back up against the wall. "First you tell Nate about the Nikki/Cam secret, emphasis on the secret part, and then we finally get a breakthrough and you mention leaving?"

"Sorry. I miss Josh." Alicia blurted. It was the truth, she did miss her boyfriend. In a way.

"Don't worry, Nate's a good stand-in." Massie's lips curled into a smirk, and then, in absence of any response, Alicia started laughing, but stopped when she realized the alpha wasn't joining in.

"It's okay, really. You can have 'em. I have Derrick, but what about you? And Josh?"

"I'll deal with that aspect when I get to it." The beta blurted, running her spread fingers through her dark hair, mentally trying to decide how to wear her hair for tomorrow.

"Just don't get yourself in trouble."

"I won't, and besides, we'll be gone by Christmas, right? We'll never see them again."

Sydney, Australia

The Boy's Suite

December 11th, 8:59 PM

"That was great." Nikki yawned loudly, her sentence echoing around the small living nook. "I love comedy-action-drama-thingies."

Kristen laughed louder than she needed to, suddenly nervous. A yawn usually was synonymous with bedtime. And bedtime at this moment was synonymous with the promise she had made Derrick. His warm hand, wrapped around the small of her back, only served as a reminder of her imminent doom.

"Should we watch another?" Cam poked Nikki in the shoulder jokingly. "'Cause, I know how much Nikki loves these things."

"Oh please. You two were making out the entire time." Josh called, earning a laugh from Derrick and a "yeah!" from Dylan.

"Should we go to bed?" Derrick hinted loudly, his face aiming towards her. "I'm pretty tired actually. You guys could watch another." His grip around Kristen suggested that staying was not an option for her.

"Nah. I'm tired too." Cam mimed rolling around and making out on the couch. "You know how much I love bed."

"Cam!" Nikki smacked him. "Please!"

Dylan chortled as she rose, collecting her robe from where she had left it on the floor. "The pizza is making me sleepy."

"Not too tired, I hope." Josh winked, shaking his thick black hair free of popcorn pieces and random candy Dylan had deposited there.

Soon enough, the living room was being slightly straightened out by Nikki as Dylan headed into the kitchen to grab glasses of water for everyone. It was clear, even without saying it, that everyone knew what everyone else was going to end up doing tonight. Kristen's stomachache got worse with every tick of the clock.

_How am I going to get out of this? How are Dylan and Nikki so casual about this? Am I in a house of insane people? Should I call the police? Wait, is this even illegal? No, probably not, because neither of us are over 17, and it's not minor without consent or whatever. But we're in Australia! What am I going to do? _

"Alright!" Derrick yawned. "I think we're going to head off. You guys?" He accepted the glasses from Dylan, gulping thirstily at one of them. Kristen took small, panicked sips from the other, as if it would be able to save her.

"Have fun, D." Cam whisper-shouted, as Nikki dragged him off into the first room on the right.

"See ya tomorrow!" Dylan called before disappearing into the second room. Derrick's room was on the very end, with a red painted door. Kristen suddenly started imagining everything malign that was red. Blood. The Devil. Lobsters. Stop signs. Hearts.

Derrick's room was very nice, nicer than Kristen's even. A sculpted scarlet (of course) fabric headboard presided over his California king bed strewn with different black blankets and black pillows. The floor was hardwood with a gray fluffy rug, which matched the ceiling. A flat-screen TV stood against one wall, which his silver MacBook air was charging underneath.

"Like it?" He whispered, smiling. "Bathroom's over there, if you need it."

Too nervous for words, Kristen nodded and dashed into the aforementioned room. There, she sat on the closed toilet seat for a good five minutes and shook. When she finally got herself together, she stood up, took off her robe and hung it on one of the posts. Then, she analyzed herself in the mirror.

Blonde hair messily braided into an intricate design framed a sweaty, pink face. Her skinny-but-muscled arms shook, while her lips curled into an unhappy frown. Couldn't Derrick see she didn't want this?

Or were his wants over-clouding her needs? Her needs to stay wholesome, and not become someone like Nikki?

"Hey, K? You ready?"

"Yeah." She stammered. "I'm coming."

Cains, Australia

The Girl's Bungalow

December 11th, 9:32 PM

"Have you guys heard from Derrick or anything?" Claire looked up from her laptop, looking over to the open patio slider, where Massie and Alicia lay, half in and half out.

"No." Massie giggled, covering her mouth. "Do you want dirt on Nikki or something?"

"Yeah, actually." Claire blushed. When she noticed the girls' dirty looks, she shrugged. "It's interesting."

"I'll text K & D."

"I can text Josh."

Bwoop. Bwoop.

_Thirty minutes later…_

"Still nothing?"

"Nope." Massie and Alicia said in unison.

"Kristen always has her phone, though." Claire blurted, eager for information. "Do you think they went to bed early?"

"Please, Dylan's bedtime is, like, never." Alicia gently rolled into a chest-stand on the soft bed, stretching and cracking her back. It was her routine before bed. Apparently, she just couldn't sleep if her back was in the wrong position.

"Maybe they were tired." Massie quipped.

"What would they be tired from?" Claire took it farther.

The question went unanswered for a while, each girl contemplating it.

"I have no idea."

* * *

**Whoo! I finally got this one out. It was a struggle, believe me. **

**So what do you think? Are you excited for the sequel? Please leave me a review about your opinions, since I love hearing about them so much!  
**

**I'm going to try and finish this story this week(end), as I HAVE NO MORE FINALS (!), but I do have a ton of dance, so I'll try! I'm leaving on tuesday next week for the outer banks (if anyone reads Sand & Feathers, that's where it's based) so maybe I'll have a strike of inspiration there and try and progress on that story too. **

**Okay. Blurt over. **

**sp**


	26. vingt-six

**new chapter! hopefully, another one or two will be up this weekend... i'm eager to get this story done! **

**26.**

**Cains, Australia**

**The Bungalow**

**December 20th, 8:00 AM**

When Claire woke up, she immediately wanted to return to sleep.

After listening to the hustle and bustle of Massie and Alicia moving around the room, Claire unwillingly propped herself up on her elbows and rubbed her eyes rid of sleep. Her ears had not lied, as her two best friends really were scurrying around the room, as if they were mice, stocking up for the harsh winter ahead.

When Massie realized Claire was up, she hurried over, dragging two of Claire's suitcases behind her.

"Hurry up and pack, Kuh-laire." At this, Claire smiled. After she had gotten much, much better, the old nickname had returned. But now, it was less of a put-down, more of an endearing reminder of good times. "Our plane leaves in an hour."

At this, Claire's grin vanished. It had been a wonderful ten days. In-between rehab-like training sessions with Australia's best trainers, spa sessions, and crazy hypnotist episodes, Claire had been allowed to hang out with Caiden as much as she wanted to. And however tawdry it sounded, she loved his attention. His apparent love, or at least attraction was nice, for a change.

And now they were leaving. Going back to Sydney. Back to Cam, Nikki and all the drama. And Sydney didn't have Caiden. Well, normally it did, but Nate and Caiden were still on vacation. Claire really didn't have the heart to tell Caiden that she wanted him to go back to Sydney with her. To love her. To admire her. After all, that was where his ex had broken his heart. Piece by piece, Claire had been trying to put it back together, but she hadn't had the time to finish the project. Maybe (Claire swallowed at the very thought) he would meet another girl just like her to finish the job. But she needed him. More than the imaginary girl did.

Now that her bed was the place of unhappy thoughts, Claire rose readily and ambled over to her section of the closet. On her way, she paused in the bathroom, frowning unhappily at her tangled hair. It truly may have been the only thing wrong with her at the moment, but still, any sign of imperfection sent her spiraling back into the self-hating mode that had been her life for at least three days after spying on Cam and Nikki. As she worked the small tangle out of her golden-blonde hair, she analyzed the rest of her face, searching for any other problems. At a glance, she found none.

Her electric blue eyes were bright, and thankfully non-rimmed with red. Her nose gently swooped down from her forehead, ending in a gentle ski-slope upturn. Her lips were larger, thanks to a long-lasting exclusive lip-plumper of Massie's. Tying it all together, her skin felt like glowing satin, slightly tanned, and completely blemish free.

She had finally reached the level that girls like Massie and Alicia had been living on for ages. Where she had always wanted to be. Still, she felt miserable at the thought of leaving, and the glum expression brought her face rating down at least two tenths of a point.

When, ten minutes later, she opened the door to their bungalow, all set to leave, and saw Caiden's smile, Claire still had a pouty expression written all over her face. This wasn't some about-face change of plans; they had discussed him coming with her to send them off yesterday. Now, though, Claire just wanted to leave him behind at the hotel. It would be easier, certainly, and less confusing.

But he wanted to come with her, and who was she to deny him? He had been essential for her in the last ten days. She owed him.

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**The boy's suite**

**December 20th, 9:05 AM**

_Bwoop. Bwoop._

**Nikki: **Hey, want to hang out today?

**Nikki:** I've missed you so much since… two days ago :)

Cam sat up in his bed, glanced at the messages, and then flopped back on his pillow with a groan. Nikki Dalton. Could she for once leave him alone?

He must have fallen asleep, because not even fifteen minutes later, his phone lit up with two new texts.

**Nikki: **Want to come over here?

**Nikki:** I think I could sneak you past the maid. We'd have to be quiet though.

With sleep still rusting his eyes shut, he groaned, and deleted every single message. But he was awake now, thanks to gosh-damn Nikki (wait no, he liked her, right?).

As he stood by his sink and spat out his toothpaste, he began to ponder the girl and what she meant to him. Sure, she was a good time, a great time even, and she was pretty enough. But Cam was convinced Nikki had a proximity complex. It's like she wasn't loved at home, or something, and always seemed to seek out love in him.

But Cam was realizing that he didn't love Nikki. Not even close. She was a fling. A crush, at most. There was nothing behind the girl, except for the times in the bedroom. Why didn't he see this at camp? Was he blinded by the fact that she was the only girl there that didn't have horrendous acne? Or had she just gotten unimpressive after he had finally scored the prize?

Would he never be satisfied with only one girl? Would each and every one only grow dull after time?

Could he ever find someone he could really like? He had thought he had found it in Claire, but then she had gotten all tubby and horrid, and then his affection was wholly gone. He had refocused on Nikki. Nikki. Nikki. Nikki. And now, slowly, surely, his affection was slipping away from her as well.

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**The girls's suite**

**December 20th, 9:15 AM**

"And, I think I might love him." Dylan finished her rant with a crazed smile, her face resting gently on her folded hands. "It was just so exciting, and fun, and I've done nothing but hope it will happen again."

Kristen gulped at her coffee, even though it was scalding hot, just so she wouldn't have to say something. It was also a way for punishing herself, as every time she looked at her phone she wanted to punch something. Preferably, her own limbs.

"It's just been so crazy and so new." Dylan paused to breath, her lips spreading into a smile. "In a way, I think Massie and Alicia leaving has been one of the best things for me. Ever. Otherwise, I never would have realized how perfect Josh is for me. We're like two puzzle pieces."

"Yeah, Dyl." Kristen grimaced, realizing it was probably due time for her to respond. "You guys are perfect for each other. More than perfect."

"We are." The redhead confirmed with a grin. "Nikki says we sound even better than her and Cam, which is hard to beat. Oh! Have you and Derrick talked yet?"

"No."

"He'll come around." Dylan said with a dramatic flourish. "He really should understand. Some of us-" she glanced at Kristen "-just aren't ready for more mature acts at a young age."

Kristen remained silent, glaring at her coffee angrily. To hear Dylan say it, she was the oddity for not wanting to have sex. When in reality (in the real world!) Dylan _and _Nikki were freaks of nature for becoming sexually active in eighth grade.

"But really, once you get the guts to do it, the awareness' like nothing else. It's a real bonding experience, trust me. I'm sure Derrick and you will get to it soon, just apologize and he'll forgive you."

"Apologize?"

Dylan forged on, pretending not to hear Kristen's strangled outcry. "Nikki's coming over at ten. I would invite you, but we're going to the boys room, and that would be totally awkward, right? So, yeah."

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**The boy's suite**

**December 20th, 9:25 AM**

Cam had just stepped out of a hot shower when Derrick came barreling into the bathroom.

"Dude!" Cam hissed. "I'm half naked!"

Derrick's cheeks blushed with embarrassment, but he opened his mouth to talk never less. "It's the girls. They're coming back."

"Sorry, but why do I care?" The words came out without permission, but Cam decided to go with it. "Remember, I don't like Claire anymore. I have Nikki."

"Alright, man, but they look good. I can't wait for Massie, now that Kristen turned out to be a sub par prude."

Derrick's phone was shoved into Cam's face, and it took his eyes a few seconds to refocus on the screen. Soon enough, the blobs turned into faces, and Cam quickly identified Massie and Alicia smiling for the raised cellphone camera. Their faces were the same as always, and Cam was about to shove the phone away when he got a look at the girl in the background.

She was blonde, facing the camera, with a half-smirk on her face. Her blue eyes glowed, her skin tanned, and her eyelashes were long and thick. A boy with thick blonde hair had his back to the camera, and was kissing her neck affectionately.

"Is that _Claire_?"

* * *

**Character development (as put by Clara) chapter! Did you like it? Are you mad as heck that I skipped nine days? Is Claire just as bad as Cam, using Caiden? **

**Tell all in a review :)**

**sp**


	27. vingt-sept

**27.**

**Sydney, Australia**

**the boys's room**

**December 20th, 2:00 PM**

"Dylly, mind getting us some popcorn?" Josh smiled, the skin crinkling around his eyes. Another ding had just echoed around the room, signifying another message arriving at Derrick's phone.

"You get popcorn!" Dylan smacked him, the light in her green eyes sparkling as her palm made contact. "You're the one enjoying this so much!"

"You're right, I am." Josh leaned in and gave her a light kiss before he jumped off the couch and started towards the kitchen. "D, speak loud. I don't want to miss any of this."

The tow-headed boy rolled his eyes, bringing his black phone up to his face. He was the only one in the group who had a couch to himself, a bitter reminder that his stand-in had turned out to be bitter and prudish.

"She said, Derrick, can we please talk it over? I want to discuss our standing."

"God!" Dylan laughed. "Why does she have to always be so uptight and scientific?"

"I bet she wants you back." The rough tones of Nikki's voice startled all of them; she and Cam had disappeared into his room half an hour ago. No one expected them to be done that quickly. Cam emerged from the room a few seconds after the strawberry blond, yawning and scratching his back.

"Tired from all of that... exercise?" Josh cracked from the kitchen. Cam smiled faintly, while Dylan and Nikki openly giggled. Derrick was the only one who stayed rock silent, probably still bitter about his non-experiences. Everyone else in the room was most definitely not a virgin: he was the only one left. Thanks to virginal, Amish-like Kristen Gregory.

Dylan used to think of Kristen as her closest friend in the clique, one she could really relate to. They were always the two on the second tier, Massie, Alicia and sometimes even Claire on the top. But, now, Dylan really couldn't be that good of friends with Kristen anymore. They were on totally different levels now. Dylan was ten times more mature. And that was something Kristen would just have to learn to live with.

* * *

Across the hall, Kristen settled her elbows on the marble counter, face cradled in her hands. She looked, or rather glared, down at her phone, willing Derrick to type back. The last message she had sent was her tenth of the day, and sending eleven would be pushing it.

Ten seconds later, the gods answered her prayer. A tiny ellipses icon blinked on Derrick's side of the screen, announcing the fact that he was finally typing back. Just barely, Kristen managed to contain the happy, bubbly feeling inside of her, and her tapping fingers were the only evidence of her excitement.

**Derrick: **No... Kristen, you know Massie's coming back today, right?

This actually was news to her, but she brushed it off. She knew the alpha had to come back sometime, and this tidbit of information only added to her sense of urgency. She had hours, maybe minutes, left to convince Derrick that she was the right choice, sex or no sex.

**Kristen:** So?

Her fingers got more frenzied with each passing second. Tap ta tap ta tap ta tap. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty.

He wasn't going to get back to her, was he? Dylan, Derrick; they were both slipping away from her. Fast. Thanks to a certain blonde-headed slut and her seductive charms.

It really boiled down to Nikki, didn't it? If Nikki hadn't interfered with their lives, none of this would have happened. She had to go away. And if no one else was willing to get rid of her, Kristen was more than ready.

* * *

**Sydney, Australia**

**Kingsford-Smith International Airport (SYD)**

**December 20th, 2:06 PM**

As soon as the landing gear of the small private plane screeched against the runway, Massie let out a sigh of relief. The breath had been building up for days, Cains had been so _boring_. Especially after Claire had claimed Caiden, and Alicia had taken a liking to Nate. Of course, if Massie had wanted, she probably could have managed to steal Nate away from her, but after being so focused on Claire, and Derrick waiting patiently in Sydney, she had decided to let the beta have her fun.

But it had resulted in pure boredom for the last two days. Claire was mostly cured by then, and Massie's days had been spent third-wheeling (or really fifth-wheeling) along with the two happy couples. The awkwardest moment had been in the girls's bungalow, during an intense makeout session. The beds were both occupied, so Massie had been forced to casually sit against the wall and pretend to read. Derrick better feel proud of his loyal girlfriend. Not that she could ever tell him the part about Alicia & Nate; the beta still was clinging onto Josh by a thread.

"It'll work." Alicia had said earlier. "Nate and Josh'll never be in the same room together."

Well that was a given, any turn of events that would cause that would be awfully rare; but Massie still had a bad feeling. Text messages on cell-phones, lingering cologne on hair; there were a million ways Josh could sniff out the betrayal. But boys were typically oblivious, so maybe Alicia could slip by.

Thirty minutes later, the girls had collected their baggage and jumped on a Hotel Merrin shuffle. No one minded the non-privacy, each girl turning to their own escape. Alicia chatted with Massie over magazines, while Claire tucked a pair of headphones in and turned on Pandora, immersing herself in the music. In no time, the van was pulling into the hotel parking lot.

Spotting the green and white logo across the street, Massie offered to treat the group with Starbucks, wanting time to clear her head and fix her makeup. Derrick was only minutes away, after all. Absentmindedly pulling out her phone, Massie sent a message to Kristen and Dylan. Just now, she realized she hadn't even told them they were coming back.

**Massie:** Hey! We're back, do you want anything from starbucks?

Dylan's reply was instantaneous.

**Dylan: **Oh, cool! Grande V Frapp, please!

Kristen didn't respond by the time Massie reached the store, so she got the blonde her usual iced passion tea.

Toting the heavy drink tray along with her overloaded Prada, Massie took her time getting back to the hotel. By the time the elevator doors were opening on her floor, it was quarter past three.

As she stepped carefully out into the hallway, her ears registered a clicking noise from down the hall. Lifting her Gucci shades, Massie gazed down the hallway. It was Nikki, exiting the boys room. The slut herself. Massie was finally meeting her in person.

"Hi... Massie, right?" The girl uttered, raising her palm in greeting.

"Excuse me?" Each of Massie's word were razor sharp. "I'm sorry, I don't speak slut." She smiled inwardly at the recycled line, the last time she had used it had been seventh grade.

"What?" Nikki's smile faded, leaving only a slight curl in her lips.

"Do I really need to repeat myself?"

"No." Her lip twitched.

"Then go." Massie ordered. "And _try_ not to come back."

"Fine." Nikki seemed to want to avoid confrontation. "But-"

"What?" Massie's patience was wearing thin.

"Just..." She paused for a moment, considering her next words. "Just know that someone you know is not to be trusted. Do you really think Derr-, you know, I think you're smart enough to figure it out."

* * *

**A clue from Nikki? Is she willing to risk Kristen's wrath? I guess so. **

**Thoughts? Complaints? Wants? Needs? Let me know in a review! **

**sp**


	28. vingt-huit

**Long chapter! Longest so far :) **

**Some major drama goes down in this chapter, get your popcorn ready!**

**We're so close to 400, guys!**

* * *

**28.**

**The Hallway**

**December 20th, 3:17 PM**

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Massie hissed at the girl. Nikki was trying to edge her way around the alpha, but Massie wasn't going to let her get away easily. "Are you sleeping with Derrick too?" She felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck start to ride. Cam, she only cared about because of a friend. Derrick was _hers_.

"Nope." Something in the girls tone made Massie believe her, and she stepped back a little to let the girl by. Just talking to her, Massie felt her alpha levels dropping, and it would be better if she was gone before Claire had the chance to see her. Sluts were major downers.

"Just go." Massie sighed finally, sick of the slow progress Nikki was making. When she finally made it to the elevator, the brunette huffed and headed into her room.

Inside, was a menagerie of complete… abnormality. Hellos already said, Alicia and Claire had collapsed in different corners of the room. Claire was talking quietly to Kristen at the counter. Neither blonde looked up when Massie entered the room. Alicia was stretched over the couch in a chest stand, her feet casually dangling over her head as she typed furiously on her phone. To Nate, surely. The redhead of the group was missing.

What? No welcome back? Massie kept her grim-dealing-with-Nikki smirk on her face, and decisively smacked the Starbucks tray on one of the entry tables.

"Starbucks's here." Now she was starting to regret offering to pick up drinks for the left-behind. They were obviously being rude on purpose.

"Oh, good. I'm so thirsty!" Claire giggled and raced over to pick up her sugar-free iced coffee; a big change from the time before the trip, when her favorite drink was a cotton candy Frappuccino. Kristen cautiously joined them, but Massie noted that she had edged in between Claire and a chair, even though there was hardly room.

"Hey Kristen." Massie cocked her head, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Kristen had never been this shy before.

"Hi." The blonde unwillingly lifted her head, smiling weakly. "Which one's mine?"

"The tea."

"Oh, thanks!" Kristen picked up the drink, and then, as she remembered something, opened her mouth, "Welcome back! How was your trip?"

"Fabulous." Massie quipped, rolling her eyes. "Glad you asked."

Kristen smiled uncertainly again, and then opened her mouth to speak again. But, Dylan, barreling down the hallway, halted her words.

"Mass! Leesh! Claire!" She yawped happily. "You're back!"

The redhead caught Massie in a hug first, swallowing the brunette's petite frame with her arms. Massie was beaming, this was more of a welcome, when she scrunched her delicate nose and sniffed Dylan's stylish black terry cloth jumper. Polo? What the hell?

"New perfume, Dyl?" Massie observed, her expression denoting disapproval. Before, the redhead had always smelled of green apple shampoo and mint essences. Now, she just smelled like… Josh.

"Oh, that's still on me?" Dylan giggled, twirling nervously. "We," she nodded at Kristen, "went to the mall yesterday and tried on perfumes, and I swear I thought this was the girls version. The bottles look so similar!" Massie's eyes refocused on her neck, spotting a reddish mark halfway covered with the wrong shade of foundation. A hickey? No, it couldn't be. It had to be a rash or something.

"Oh, funny." Massie looked around the room, noting that nothing seemed too out-of-place. The couches were in the same arrangement, the kitchen wasn't screwed up, it looked almost exactly like how they had left it. On the granite countertop, Claire's phone buzzed with a message.

"Caiden." Claire spoke with absolute certainty, seeing that Massie was watching it curiously.

The name reminded Massie of something.

"Ohmigod! I totally forgot, I dropped some of my stuff in the lobby, and I didn't remember to pick it up after Starbucks. I'll be right back."

"Want me to help?" Dylan offered, springing up from the table, eagerly sipping her Frappuccino.

"Naw." Massie said loftily. "I got it. Be right back."

The brunette high-tailed it out of the room, not turning as if to go to the lobby, but continuing straight, right towards the boys' room. Might as well see Derrick, along with Cam. The door was unlocked, and she easily chassed through. She slowly made her way into the living room.

"MASS!" Derrick jumped out of his seat, eagerly making his way over to her. He, like Dylan, enveloped her in a hug. Massie hugged back eagerly, excited to finally be home, to have someone who adores her near.

"So good to see you!" Massie purred, breaking away from the hug. Before she could completely break free, his lips found hers in a quick peck. A blush spread out from the area of contact, reddening her entire face.

"Hey Massie!" Josh drawled from the corner. "Do I get a hug?" Massie barely caught Derrick's panicked look before she crossed the room and embraced Josh. Just testing, she reached down and sniffed his neck. Sandalwood, pepper and coffee flooded her nose. The exact same fragrance Dylan had smelled of, albeit stronger. What a strange… coincidence?

Massie shook off the thought, and turned away from him, searching the living room.

"Where's Cam? I have something I need to discuss with him."

"Why?" Derrick barked from behind him. "What do you have to discuss?"

"Um, nothing having to do with you." Massie responded immediately, venom surfacing in her words. Since when did her _boyfriend_ get to question her motives? Not waiting for another session of paranoid questions (what was up with _that_?), she pushed past Josh and headed to where she guessed the boys' rooms were. A quick push on the first door to the left revealed a stylish Tommy Hilfiger-esque nautical bedroom, complete with navy anchor pillows and red curtains. A tanned, black-haired was face-up on the blue patched bedspread, casually pressing several buttons on his phone.

"Cam."

"Wha- Mass?"

"Uh, yeah? Who else would it be? Nikki?" Massie snarled, picking off a random thread on her shorts. "By the way, I have some news about your hoe."

"She's not my hoe-"

"Damn right she isn't." Massie was shocked at what had just come out of her mouth, but she decided to go with it.

"Wha...t?" A look of pure confusion drooped across Cam's chiseled features. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know if you meant to loose your virginity," Massie shivered at the word, "together, ew, or something, but she wasn't a virgin when she met you."

"What?" Cam repeated. "No… she swore she was. Who would she have lost it to?"

"Maybe try her boyfriend of three years? Who she met when she was twelve?"

"Who!" His voice was suddenly loud, threatening. "Who? Massie, I swear to god if you're making this up?"

"Caiden Searcy." Massie blurted, leaning forward a bit. This was her chance to get back at them both, for Claire. "Look him up. Facebook. Past relationships. Right smack in the middle of the page, Nikki Dalton."

"No. She swore we were exclusive."

"Are you really surprised?" She placed first one, then two hands on her hips. "You did the same with Claire."

"That was different!" Cam hissed.

"How?" The brunette smirked, glad that she had gotten him worked up now. "Why? Because you're the big boy who had the right to cheat on your camp-tramp?"

"Just go." Cam growled, but Massie could see the anger in his voice now. Not exactly directed at her, as he'd like her to think, but she could see the glances at his phone now, his only immediate connection to the girl who had cheated on him. Massie could tell he believed her, she would bet against him even checking Caiden's Facebook.

She had just caused a major crack in the camp-borne relationship. One, which under any other pressure, was sure to send the whole thing tumbling to the ground.

Massie, with a satisfied sigh, made her way out of the boys' room, bypassing Derrick and his questions completely, and smoothly crossing into the girl's room. She couldn't wait to tell the others, especially Claire, about what she had done.

* * *

**~ fast-forward ten minutes ~**

* * *

Kristen leaned back in her chair as Massie's story repeated itself, this time with bone-chilling detail that had everyone on the edge of their seat. Not.

"No, I swear to god. The look on his face was pure insanity." Massie giggled, for the umpteenth time, sending Claire into stomach-wrenching giggles again.

"I would have paid to see that." Alicia and Dylan chorused; the latter nodding like a newly-reformed lackey. The red-head was obviously trying to get firmly in Massie's good graces, so that if her secret was revealed to all, possibly the brunette would help her. Kristen, however, wasn't even trying. She let her boredom and distaste for the brunette show clearly through her sullen expression and curled spine. Who would tell Massie about Derrick and her? Derrick himself? He valued his life way too much. Josh? Derrick's best friend. Cam might, out of spite, but it was highly unlikely. Who else? Dylan? No, that would result in Kristen spilling about her and Josh. No one would tell.

"I am so frustrated with Nikki." Massie spoke dramatically, finally veering onto a new topic. "Guess what she told me in the hallway?"

"Just then?" Dylan leaned forward, as if she couldn't wait for the gossip.

"No, when I was coming back from Starbucks."

"Spill!" Alicia whined eagerly.

"She said: 'Just know that someone you know is not to be trusted.' Like what the hell? And then she started to say Derrick's name."

Kristen's blood ran ice cold. Nikki. That's who she had forgotten. Short, panicked, nonsensical thoughts started running ten-fold through her mind; and she nearly started hyperventilating. What now? What now? What now? She was screwed, that's for sure. Who knew what evidence the girl had, probably just words that made total sense, but possibly pictures! Videos! The possibilities were endless, really.

Slowly, over the course of a minute, her mind returned to her. Kristen started thinking rationally. The morning came back to her, and she recalled the moment when Derrick had failed to respond to her. The plan. The one she had thought she would never need. It was just a rage-plan. One never to be carried out.

Now, she did need it. It would be perfect.

"I have a plan to get rid of her." Kristen forced her voice to stay level. The only way to ensure Nikki didn't have a way to tell Massie was to cut off any channels of contact. Phone. Person-to-person. Email, Skype, FaceTime. Everything.

And the only way to get rid of everything was to get her grounded.

The path to grounding always was through the parental units. And there was one thing that surely any parent wouldn't want their eighth-grader doing. Kristen just had to make sure she had proof of Nikki's misdeeds. Then, surely, the sneaky slut would be grounded until the end of time.

* * *

**The Hallway**

**December 20th, 5:59 PM**

"Are you sure you got the feeds set up right?" Kristen barked at Dylan. To Kristen's dismay, Massie (who had immediately taken control of the plan) had put the redhead in charge of the camera, and Kristen wouldn't put it past her to muck it up on purpose. After all, her and Nikki had been BFF not five hours ago. Still would be, if Massie hadn't showed up.

"Yes I did." Dylan's breath tickled her ear. "I'd rather sacrifice Nikki than face Massie's wrath." Kristen's nerves instantly cooled. This explanation calmed her more than anything, because it made perfect sense. Dylan would never do anything to screw with the plan, because if Kristen got squealed on, there was a good chance the Dylan/Josh relationship would be leaked to Alicia, and both of them could easily get kicked out of the PC. No friend was worth that.

"Okay, try again, Massie." Kristen keened, tapping the screen on Massie's phone. Nikki had entered the suite ten minutes ago, thanks to their creative text "from Cam's number." Action was sure to be starting now. "Make sure to press record for the good part."

"Duh. Do I have to watch?" The alpha wrinkled her nose at the thought. "Isn't that… like… ew!"

"No!" Kristen's cheeks flamed. "Of course not, that would be… yeah. Just, I don't know, press the button when you see them naked. The camera's in a good position," she paused to glare at Dylan, "so we should get a quick identification and then send it over. Let me peek at the feed."

Sure enough, Nikki and Cam were talking fervently on the bed, lips inches apart. It took a second before the audio kicked in.

"I swear. She's lying. You know her, she's Claire's best friend." Nikki lied openly. Kristen glanced up at Massie, expecting fury, but the alpha just looked calm. "I did date Caiden for two days. Gigi's dare, I swear. He was butt-ugly."

"Not." Claire retorted, preening her hair casually. "She's just trying to get him to trust her."

Slowly, but surely, hormones kicked in, and they were locked in a tight embrace seconds later. Not soon after, clothes came off and everyone adverted their eyes from the phone. Eyes squinted firmly shut, Massie pressed the record button and let it go for a good minute among moans and squeaks from the mattress. Then she cut it off with a relieved sigh and handed the iPhone to Kristen.

"You okay?" Kristen ventured, looking carefully at Claire, who had both fingers in her ears and was rocking back and forth.

"Yeah." She opened her blue eyes. "Just didn't want to hear that. Ew!" Everyone was quick to agree, and then refocused on Kristen.

Moving quickly now (she didn't have much time), Kristen pasted the video into an email, typed two email addresses and typed a quick message.

**Hotel Merrin. Suite A, Floor 5. Door will be open. **

**Please come collect your daughter. Cam Fisher is the boy. **

**(attached: video1shba)**

Bwoop. Sent.

Everyone stared at the phone's screen for half a second, in disbelief.

"It worked. I can't believe it- worked." Kristen gasped, suddenly delirious with relief. "It worked!"

"Calm down, it's not a done deal yet." Massie slung her arm around Kristen's shoulders, happy too. "We get to see the most exciting part!" Together, they led their way into the boys room, where a spontaneous hangout was planned. Derrick sat with Massie, to Kristen's chagrin (but it was necessary); Alicia sat with Josh (to both Josh and Dylan's vexation) and Kristen, Dylan and Claire crammed onto the biggest couch and tried not to notice the moaning floating out of the bedroom. It was better this way, though; if her parents caught them in the act it would be even sweeter revenge.

All of the girls pretended to watch whatever was on the television for a while. All of them were antsy, playing with their hair, or sitting on their hands to avoid damage to precious strands. Kristen tried to advert her eyes from the Massie-Derrick moment, while Dylan did the same with the couple across the room.

Their patience was rewarded after twenty torturous drawn-out minutes. A duo of feet were heard scuttling down the hallway at a fast pace, and then the door slammed open. Derrick and Josh rose almost immediately, curious, but the girls managed to pull them down in time to see two grim-faced parents storm into the room. A short, red-faced man in a pantsuit took charge immediately, while his blonde willowy trophy-wife stood off to the side, tears streaming down her face. They had seen the video; that much was obvious.

"Where the hell are they." It wasn't a question, definitely a statement, but Massie answered immediately.

"First room on the left." The minute the couple stormed out of view, everyone jumped up to go watch. The heavy breathing was still filtering out of the room; Nikki and Cam were obviously oblivious.

"Is that her?" The blonde woman sobbed. "Is our daughter turning into one of those sex stars? Have I failed as a parent?"

"Camille, it's not you. It's not us. It's her. She's spoiled. She thinks she can do whatever she wants. That's going to change." They had arrived at the red-paneled door. With a sigh, Mr. Pantsuit pushed open the door and started bellowing orders.

"YOU LITTLE F*** GET OFF OF MY DAUGHTER, I'LL DEAL WITH YOU, LITTLE SH*T, LATER. NIKKI DALTON GET YOUR CLOTHES ON, AND GET YOUR SS IN THE CAR. TWENTY SECONDS. DID YOU THINK YOU'D GET AWAY WITH BEING A P**N STAR OR WHAT? YOU CAN SAY GOODBYE TO EVERYTHING. INCLUDING THIS LITTLE SH*T, WHO'LL BE SLEEPING IN JAIL TONIGHT. YEAH, I'M THREATENING, HUH?" He took a step towards Cam, who was completely naked, still in a compromising position with Nikki. Kristen skimmed over the should-be-blurred sections, and focused on the mortified look on both of their faces. "IF TWO MINORS PROCREATING ISN'T ILLEGAL, SH*T, I'LL MAKE IT ILLEGAL. GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE. CAM F***ING FISHER, HUH? YOUR PARENTS WILL HEAR OF THIS IF IT'S THE DEATH OF ME. THERE'S NOT THAT MANY FISHERS IN AUSTRALIA. I'LL FIND YOU, LITTLE SH*T, AND YOU'LL GET THE EXACT SAME, IF NOT WORSE, TO WHAT NIKKI'LL GET." He then turned on Nikki. "WHY AREN'T YOU DRESSED, F***, GET THE HELL IN THE CAR. NOW! PUT ON A F***ING ROBE AND GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE."

The girls, shocked by the never-ending line of curse words peppered with sobs from Nikki's mother, stepped out-of-the-way to let Nikki barrel through the hallway, crying hysterically and clutching a cell phone. Claire stuck out a leg as she went by, and Nikki tumbled to the floor, full of snot and tears. All of the girls snapped pictures, before she managed to get up and continue into the hallway. Back in the room, the girls could hear Mr. Pantsuit reaming Cam out, but Nikki was more interesting.

"Take that, bitch. Don't you ever forget. No one messes with the PC and gets away with it!" Massie cried triumphantly, as she linked arms with Claire and Kristen. They, in turn, linked arms with Alicia and Dylan, forming a chain. An unbreakable chain, which could last through anything. Everything. Including crazy Australian sluts with a penchant for revenge.

Yeah, right.

* * *

**The Dalton SUV**

**December 20th, 6:31 PM**

In the car, all was silent. Both Nikki and Camille's sobs had reduced to nothing, and her father sounded like he wasn't even breathing, just driving the car with short jerky movements. They were past screaming, yelling, cursing, crying: anything. But Nikki almost wished they could go back to that, the silence, it was unbearable. How could this have happened to her? How?

She had lost Cam, that's for sure. Right in the middle of make-up sex, her parents had shown up; god knows how or why. But Nikki had a hunch. Derrick's ex-bitch, to be specific. Kristen Gregory. She had always had it out for Nikki. Sure, it could have been Massie, but it would have been much harder to figure out to ruin the purebred alpha. With Kristen, she had the power to ruin her right at her fingertips.

Shaking slightly, and trying to make the least sound possible, she scrolled through the pictures one by one with one finger at her side. They were all incriminating, enough for a certain split, but Nikki was still searching for the one she had taken in Derrick's bedroom that night. Both half naked, a clear view of Kristen's face, both passionately making out. Finally she found it, and managed to click the 'insert into message' button. She had Massie's number after swiping it from Cam's phone (you never know when you most need something). Finally it was ready.

Her finger dove towards the screen, pressing send. After a half a second, and loud _message failed, try again?_ message reverberated among the car. In complete silence, it was louder than loud.

"Camille. Take her phone." Her dad spoke softly, grinding his teeth. "Nikki, this is only the start. You're loosing everything." The worst thing about his voice was that it was hollow. No emotion at all.

Her mom's delicate hand moved into the backseat, and Nikki blindly jabbed at the phone screen, hoping the message would go through, somehow. She pressed the phone facedown into her mom's palm and broke into a new round of sobs.

The message had to go through. She had to ruin Kristen Gregory. After all, she had nothing else left to live for.

* * *

**Review, Review, Review! Do you think the message went through?**

**Since it's late here (I'm at the beach) I used FF as a beta. Do I need to rewrite this chapter at all? Don't be afraid to speak? **

**Thoughts? Wants? Suggestions? Needs? Let me know (again!) in a review!**

**sp**


	29. vingt-neuf

**Another long one! Next-to-last chapter!**

**Notice the date. Last chapter was all on the 20th.**

**408 reviews... wow. Thank you all so much!**

* * *

**29.**

**Massie & Alicia's room**

**December 24th, 4:04 AM**

"What the hell?" Massie protested, half propping herself up on her elbows. Something had awoken the alpha, a text message, but she stared at her phone like it had teeth instead of picking it up. Who would be texting her? Back in Westchester, it was twelve o'clock on the 23rd, which was an odd time for either of her parents to be calling her. For all she knew, they lunched at the country club until one PM, and neither one of her parents would do something as gauche as texting at the table. One of her semi-friends from Westchester was an option, but they not have a clue how early it was? Anyone of her real friends, or the guys, was still asleep, surely. Who the hell could it be?

Too tired to think, Massie simply silenced her phone and set it down on the bedside table. She'd deal with it in the morning.

* * *

**The Living Room**

**December 24th, 10:02 AM**

"Massie still asleep?" Claire yawned as she joined the small group at the breakfast table. A box of low-fat bagel-donuts sat open on the table, while both girls sipped cream-colored coffee out of Starbucks cups.

"Yep," said Alicia. "I want to say she got woken up in the middle of the night, but I could have been dreaming. Dylan's asleep too."

"Well, that's Dylan." Kristen cracked, sending all three of the girls in to light giggles. It was true, the redhead was the notorious late sleeper, but Massie was usually the second or third one up. Possibly she had been woken up, as the alpha had always been a light sleeper. "Should we wake them up?"

"May-" Alicia was cut off by a loud yawn. Behind them stood Massie, dressed to the morning nines in black silk wide-leg pants and a tight violet v-neck shirt.

"Morning." Claire premised, brushing the blonde bangs out of her eyes and leaning in to observe the alpha. Was it just her, or did the trademark amber eyes have a spark of anger buried deep in them? Or was it just leftover sleepiness?

"Morning." Massie parroted, the aforementioned eyes seemingly searching the room. They landed first on the table in front of Claire, then her face, then Alicia's. "Should I make a Starbucks run?"

"If you want." Alicia downed the last of her cup. "Want me to go with you?"

"I need someone who can go fast." Massie admitted. "You know how much I need a macchiato in the mornings. Kristen? Care to go with me?"

Now Claire could see it on Massie's face. She was fully surprised she hadn't noticed it before. The infamous, I'm about to flip the hell out flat-line lips. One glance at Alicia proved that the exotic Spanish beauty had seen the same thing.

"Is it us?" The Floridian blonde mouthed, worry-lines blooming across her forehead. If Massie wasn't happy, no one could be happy on this trip. Especially the one she was angry at.

After a moment of consideration, the Latina responded, "No. K." She nodded in the direction of the blonde, who had brought her nails up to her lips and started chewing on them. "She never does that." Claire nodded.

"Uh, sure." Kristen responded to Massie's query. "Just let me go get changed-"

"No. Now." The order stunned all three of the present pretty committee members silent. That meant business.

"Of course." Kristen looked like she was scrambling for help, but both Alicia and Claire turned away. They wanted nothing to do with the girl. Any assistance would only drag them into the whole situation, whatever it was.

They couldn't have that.

* * *

**Starbucks**

**December 24th, 10:34 AM**

"I swear to god, I have no idea why you're so pissed." Kristen repeated, for what seemed like the umpteenth time. The problem was, she wasn't so used to lying freely, especially to her alpha. Her resolve was close to crumbling. Along with her life.

"Cut. The. Shit." Massie murmured. "You know exactly why I'm pissed." Kristen tried her best confused-airhead look in response. "Derrick!" Massie howled like a banshee, finally tired of Kristen's refutations.

Kristen squeezed her eyes shut. How could she have known that? She got rid of Nikki, right, and who else would tell her. As loud as her shaky voice could muster, she croaked, "How?"

"Did I find out?" Massie's lips curled in sick glee. "Nikki. Of course, no wonder you were trying so hard to get rid of her. She had the very evidence that could screw you completely."

"No." Kristen exclaimed. "No."

"Yeah, how was _screwing_," she used the word once more, "Derrick? Fun?"

Kristen wanted to bark back some sarcastic answer, but she hardly had the energy.

"I didn't sleep with Derrick."

"Oh really?" Massie cast a look at her phone. "The picture evidence I got suggested otherwise."

_A picture?_ Kristen had to immediately start yoga breaths to avoid passing out. Nikki had taken pictures of them?

"Massie!" Kristen cried out. "I swear, I didn't do anything with him that was my fault. I invited the guys over to breakfast that first day because I'd cooked too much food, and then Derr… ick invited me to the water park! He kissed _me_, and he tried to get _me _in bed."

"Tried?"

"I stopped him." Kristen said honestly.

"Let's see what Derrick has to say about that." Massie spun to find her phone, and Kristen's heart sank. Of course Derrick would spin some lie that would be the exact opposite of what she had just told the alpha, and Massie would believe him over her.

"Hey Block." Derrick's slightly grating voice echoed out of the phone. Massie had placed the call on speakerphone.

"Derrick." Kristen took bizarre pleasure in her upset tone. Maybe she would dump him, and Derrick would come crawling back to Kristen. "What happened with Kristen?"

All was silent on the phone for a good ten seconds.

"Block-"

"Don't 'Block' me." Massie hissed. "Stop the fucking lies. Tell me the truth."

"Your friend is a total slut." Derrick's response elicited a gasp from Kristen. "She was all over me. Block, I mean Massie, she invited me over to breakfast and then out to a water park with Dylan and Josh, and Cam and Nikki. There, she practically jumped me."

Massie paused for a small smirk in Kristen's direction. "But you didn't kiss back?"

"… I did." Derrick's voice sounded ashamed, further hurting Kristen. "You weren't there. I wanted to pretend she was you, Massie. I missed you."

Kristen pressed her hand to her face. This was the worst lie she had heard in ages, but it was definitely reeling Massie in.

"-well, Josh had Dylan, and Nikki had Cam, and-"

"Hold up." Massie said. "Josh and Dylan?"

Derrick paused. "Yeah. That was one of the other things that influenced me."

"Did they sleep together?" Massie's words were blunt, as she muted the receiver for half a second and stared at Kristen.

"Yeah." The blonde assured quickly. Maybe she could pawn off some of the anger on Dylan.

"Whatever." Massie muttered, and then, without a second thought, ended the call with Derrick. "So you lied. You seem to have quite a talent for that, don't you?"

"He's not telling the truth, Massie!" Kristen gazed down at the floor, and then back into the alpha's amber eyes. "Why would I kiss him?"

"I dunno. Maybe to get back at me?"

"Massie!" Kristen suddenly remembered something she had to barter with. "I wouldn't hurt you! You're family! You're my cousin! Your uncle married my mom?"

"And you think I didn't know that?" Massie's upper lip curled. "Am I that dumb to you? Do you think _Richard_," her voice took on a tone of horror, "wouldn't have told us he finally scored a wife? Do you think that I didn't know it was Marsha Gregory? Gregory?" Unbeknownst to Kristen, everything but knowing Richard had re-married was a huge spun web of lies. Massie hardly cared about her uncle enough to know who he married. "You think I didn't realize how you suddenly had all of these things, thanks to the Blocks money? What, are you going to change your name to Kristen Block now? So you can completely take over my life?"

"Massie!"

"Don't speak!" Massie provoked. "First the family's money, now Derrick. I wouldn't ever call you a cousin. Ever in my life. You're despicable. You knew."

Massie staggered to her feet, grabbing her hobo and her latte. "I'm not going to tell Alicia about Dylan and Josh. You better not, either."

"What?" Kristen instinctively cried. "So I'm the one who gets punished, when she lost her virginity to our beta's boyfriend?" A couple heads turned in their direction, but Kristen ignored them.

Massie didn't even grant her with a response. In seconds, the alpha was gone. And it was all Kristen's fault. Feeling desperate to scream, she pulled out her phone and jammed her finger into a contact's name.

It rang for ages. And then, the answering machine picked up.

"Hey. It's Derrick. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Kristen stared at her phone's screen for half a second, and then hurled the offending device against the window. A spider web of cracks split from the impact area, causing people around her to gasp. Kristen, past caring, sunk down to the floor.

"This is like a soap opera." She heard someone behind her say, but she didn't have energy or time to respond, as one of the black-apron clad employees had arrived, and promptly kicked her out onto the wet asphalt. It was raining. The perfect weather.

It was Christmas Eve. One of the holiest days of the year, but not for Kristen. It would go down in history as the outright cruelest date of her life.

* * *

**The Girls' Room**

**December 24th, 10:34 AM**

"I bet she texted Derrick or something." Claire giggled, not knowing how close she had come to the truth.

"No-o-o!" Alicia tittered along with her. "She's not that bold. I bet Kristen stole a sweater of hers or something."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Claire agreed, turning back to the table. Using the empty suite while they could, Alicia and her were busing themselves with wrapping the gifts they had gotten all the girls and guys. At the moment, Claire was wrapping a pair of lilac Tods travel flats for Massie in a royal mauve paper. Before slapping the last piece of tape on the package, she slipped in a small card. She had written each of the PC girls a little note on a generic Christmas card, but she had written the most on the alphas. After all, it was Massie who had pulled Claire out of her depressive funk.

Sighing, Claire picked up the final present. It was a pair of special-order headphones, purchased months before for the purpose of giving to Cam. Last night, Claire had invited Massie into her room for a powwow on the gift, and eventually it had been decided that Claire should be the better person and give him a gift regardless of how he had acted. Besides, what would she do with an extra set of headphones?

She had just begun to wrap the box in green striped paper when the knock on the door disturbed her.

"Want me to get it?" Claire offered standing up. Alicia was focused on figuring out how to wrap an espresso machine for Dylan, and she hardly even nodded.

It was probably Massie and Kristen, perhaps they had forgotten their key card, or maybe their hands were too laden with drinks to open the door. Claire crossed the entryway quickly, eager to get back to wrapping.

"Hey!" Claire said, as she opened the door. "You guys took awhile."

"Claire?" It wasn't Massie or Kristen. In all of his black-haired glory, Cam stood before her, nervously clutching a bouquet of orange-pink roses.

Claire stood noiselessly for a moment, and then re-entered her body, cocking an eyebrow. Her expression spoke wonders, because Cam was suddenly scrambling for words to say.

"Claire. Nikki was a mistake. A huge one. I swear to god, it was just hormones. Honest. Claire, I think I love you. I don't want this to happen to us, I've thought long and hard about the state of our relationship. We need to get back together. I want- no, I need another chance. Um, these flowers are for you." He ended awkwardly, holding out the bouquet.

Wordlessly, Claire stared at him and the flowers. And then she took a colossal breath, and slammed the door in his face. So much for being the better person.

* * *

**The Dalton Estate; Nikki's Room**

**December 24th, 2:00 PM**

Nikki looked up from the passage in _Pretty Little Liars_, the novel she was reading, and rolled her eyes. Suh-noozer. Even she could tell who A was from like, the first paragraph. All of the books she had tried had been the same. Murderer this, apocalypse that, everything was unbelievably mind-numbing.

There was nothing else to do. Her phone was indefinitely gone, along with her television, her laptop, and most of the other things in her room. Gone was her bed frame and mattress, leaving only an airbed and a shoddily made patchwork quilt; no pillow. Gone were most of the designer clothes in her closet, leaving her with only crew neck t-shirts and full-length skirts and pants. Her nightstand had been sold (sold!) along with her dresser and vanity. Her bathtub was roped off, leaving her only the shower. All of her makeup was taken. The several light bulbs were unscrewed and her drapes were gone, forcing her to go to bed when the sun went down, and to awake when the sun rose. But most annoying of all, her door was gone. Her bedroom door.

"I can't trust you to have any privacy at all, Nikki. None." Her father had said as he watched the carpenter unscrew the door hinges.

She had cried, of course, when she had seen her room. Neither of her parents had responded to this, instead giving her hard glares whenever she tried to speak to them.

Essentially, her life was completely ruined. All thanks to Kristen. Nikki didn't even have the luxury of knowing if the picture went through. For all she knew, Massie and Kristen were better friends than ever, bonding over Nikki's demise. And what about Cam? Would he forget about her?

At this rate, she wouldn't know until she was thirty.

* * *

**...**

**So, just incase the delayed message didn't make any sense, I got the idea from a couple reviews, where you guys said that your phones will send a message once you're in a data-rich zone. So, it just happened that Nikki's phone sent it then. **

**Thanks so much for all of the feedback! I think I will be refining the last chapter, but I'm not sure when.**

**sp**


	30. trente

**Final chapter! Read away :)**

* * *

**30.**

**The Dalton Estate, Nikki's Room**

**January 9th, 7:00 AM**

Nikki stared out her window in contempt as her father got in the family's chauffeured car. It was his yearly fourth-quarter business visit, one of the few times he was gone, ever. She guessed that she should feel happy he was going, you know, because he took all of her possessions away, but Nikki didn't really see the point. Nothing would change over the three weeks when he was gone. Her mom didn't even speak to her, so how was she supposed to hope for leniency?

Cam was leaving tomorrow, along with the whole lot of evil girls who had ruined her life. They were going back to the US, and taking Cam with them. It had dawned on Nikki a few days ago that she might never see Cameron Fisher again. She likely wouldn't be going to camp this year, or the next, or even the one after that. No computer or phone ensured that there would be no messages, no cute emails or sexy IMs. Kristen was smart enough that she would make sure the group never went to Australia again. It probably would only be a matter of time before Cam and Claire got back together.

After these thoughts, a knock on the wall surprised her. No one was to talk to her, not even the maids. She didn't respond to the knock, instead choosing to stare at the space where her mahogany door used to stand.

"Nikki, honey?" A soft voice echoed from the hallway, preceding her mom's entrance by only a few seconds. "Are you okay?"

"Why don't you ask dad?" Nikki spat angrily. "Or yourself."

"Nikki, you know this wasn't my idea-"

"Well, that's funny, because you didn't do a thing to stop it."

"You know your father and how out of control he can get." Her blue eyes started to tear. "I couldn't do a thing. I didn't like how he treated you, no one deserves this, except for maybe criminals," she took a deep breath and continued, "and you were just experimenting with a boy, perhaps a little young, but still. I was a young girl too, you know."

"Mm?" Nikki nodded, a smile almost breeching her upset-and-mistreated-child act.

"I think your father was just upset that someone had filmed you. Nikki, I want to hear the backstory on this. You can tell me everything."

It took only half an hour for Nikki to explain everything, exaggerating the meanness and cruelty of the girls by an exponential factor, and downplaying her sexual acts with Cam. She told her mom how much she cared for the boy, and how he was leaving the next day to go back to the US. Her mother nodded throughout the whole story, and when she was done, she took a moment outside.

When she returned, she was clutching something in her palms.

"Nikki, I'm going to give this credit card to you. I want you to buy a ticket on the same plane that those awful girls and the boy are going on, and since you still have a few weeks of winter vacation left, I want you to go and fix things before camp starts in the summer. If you want, of course. I'm not going to force you to do anything. I'll tell your father, if he comes home early, or you wish to stay longer, that you've gone away to military camp."

Before she could stop herself, a giant smirk bloomed on Nikki's face. Sure, she would "fix" things with the girls. She would enlist Cam's help to ruin them all, especially Kristen.

All for the name of revenge, of course.

* * *

**Kingsford-Smith International (SYD) Airport**

**January 10th, 12:01 PM**

Claire felt a tinge of sadness creep through her bones. It was happening. They were going home. After a month abroad, it was right back to school and eternal boredom. They were leaving Australia, leaving Nikki (good), Caiden and Nate (bad). Instead, they were taking home Cam (who wouldn't stop with the stupid flowers). In five days, they were going back to OCD.

Massie, on the other hand, was feeling more than ready to get back to Westchester. There, she could easily freeze out Kristen, and not have to explain a thing. At the moment, she was playing lowball, letting Derrick stand with an arm around her. Kristen had noticed, the alpha was positive, as she was playing with the strap on her tote and not speaking to anyone. Payback hurts, right _cuz_?

Dylan was about as far away from Josh as she could be, although she desperately wanted to be near him, to smell his spicy Polo cologne, to kiss him. But, she had heard through the grapevine that Kristen had gotten busted for what happened between her and Derrick, and Dylan couldn't risk Alicia finding out.

Kristen sat on the cold plastic seat in silence. Not able to decide if she wanted to go home or not, she currently was weighing pluses and minuses in her head. Neither side was any better than the other.

Alicia was oblivious to the world around her. She was adamantly talking to Josh about Ralph Lauren's new fall line; ignorant to the glances he was sending towards Dylan. As she spit mindless words out, trying to look like she cared, her thoughts keep returning to a certain brown-haired, blue-eyed Australian boy.

Across the gate platform, Nikki Dalton sat turned towards the wall. She dressed simply in a black t-shirt and leggings, and wore bright blue Nike tennis shoes. All that she carried was in her black Tumi crossbody. It consisted of the credit card, about three hundred dollars in cash, a brand-new iPod touch for plane entertainment and her boarding pass. At such late notice, she had only been able to score a seat in coach. Hopefully, it would be a window seat so she might actually get to sleep.

Ten minutes later, it was time for first class to board, and the pretty committee, the briarwood boys and Robert Harrington eagerly moved towards the boarding docket, boarding the plane quickly. Since this model didn't have an exclusive top deck with moving chairs, Massie had settled for the next best thing, reserving the top two rows of four for the eight that mattered, and sending the dad to business class.

"Block, are we sitting together?" The very words made both Kristen and Massie's skin crawl, but the alpha forced a smile.

"Sorry, Derrick, I'm sitting with Leesh." With that, she ducked into a two-set of seats, pulling the Latina after her. Claire paired up quickly with Dylan, realizing one of the girls would have to sit with a guy, and it was not going to be her. Josh, noticing that Kristen was the only girl left, immediately jumped for Cam and pushed him into the set of seats behind Massie, snickering with glee. That left Kristen and Derrick.

The blonde reluctantly took the window seat, and laid out her things exactly how she wanted them, for ultimate accessibility and comfort. The annoyed sigh assured her that Derrick had found his place beside her.

It was going to be a long ride.

**... Two hours later ...**

Nikki frowned at the screen, as the rebuffing sign reappeared for the umpteenth time. She wasn't even two minutes into Legally Blonde, and it had been an hour since she had paid twenty dollars to see it.

Squirming uncomfortably, Nikki lifted herself up and tucked her legs underneath her. She had received a window seat, sure, but it was the absolute last-row of the airplane, and it smelled awful, like pee. The thought brought her uncomfortable bladder back to the forefront of her mind, and she gazed longingly at the bathrooms which were only feet away. The humongous sleeping man next to her made it impossible to get up, however, unless she crawled over his belly fat. Not happening.

* * *

Towards the front of the plane, Kristen Gregory was clutching at her stomach, praying to gawd that she wouldn't puke up her delicious-at-the-time lemon tart all over Derrick's lap. The plane was taking some pretty wild swoops, and the seltzer water she had downed ten minutes ago wasn't helping either.

After a particularly bad bout of turbulence, Kristen's nausea dissipated to the point where she could speak.

"Derrick?" She asked meekly, ready to ask him to get up so she could go to the bathroom. He didn't respond.

"Derrick?" Kristen said in a louder tone. When he still didn't respond, she was getting ready to yell it, but an announcement over the plane's intercom system halted her.

_"Attention passengers, this is your co-pilot speaking. We have hit a minor tropical air-system, and we will be experiencing mild to severe turbulence for at least an hour. Please remain seated, and avoid bathroom use unless it's an absolute emergency. Thank you."_

The plane erupted into the sound of seatbelts clicking and a few whispers. Kristen tossed a nasty look at Derrick, blaming him for her sickness and her lack of ability to use the bathroom. With a humph, she pulled her complementary blue cashmere/cotton blanket over her face.

Ten minutes later, Dylan and Claire were openly clutching at each other; gasping each time the plane hit a patch of empty air and fell hundreds of feet straight down. All around the plane, hollow moans and shrieks came from passengers, some even trying to email loved ones through the plane's wi-fi system.

No one was surprised when, two minutes later, the plane's intercom system was on. It was mostly garbled noises, but every ten seconds or so, Dylan could make out a word.

_"Flat….Air…Emergency…Radio…Engine Failure."_

And with that, the plane started to fall, eliciting screams from most of the people on the plane. Massie and Alicia grabbed for each other and held, shrieking and crying at the same time. Dylan and Claire started flapping their hands, screaming and yelling for help. Cam and Josh simply squeezed their eyes shut and brought their knees to their chest. In the back, Nikki threw up all over her sleeping partner, making the seats smell even worse.

And Kristen, realizing these were the last few moments of her life, sat up and pulled the boy who she was almost positive she loved closer, and pressed her lips against his. And for once, he didn't pull away.

* * *

**And we crash to an end. Quite literally. **

**A clarification: cuz = cousin**

**Anyway, there will most definitely be a sequel, but untill then, go ahead enjoy some of my other stories!**

**Thoughts? Wants? Needs? Complaints? **

**All can be expressed in a review down there :) **

**sp **


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